President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has reaffirmed the readiness of one of his companies, Dangote Sinotruk West Africa Ltd (DSWAL), to further raise the level of local content in its vehicles to up to 60 percent when Ajaokuta Steel Company comes on stream.
Welcoming the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, the Deputy Senate President, Jibril Barao, Senators and other guests to the event, the Dangote Group President underscored the importance of steel to the automotive industry and the economy.
On Sunday, the fully knocked down CKD truck assembly plant owned and operated by Dangote Sinotruk West Africa opened in Lagos.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu were present at the inauguration .
Alhaji Dangote said: “The investment in the truck assembly plant is part of our backward integration to add value and reduce imports. I am glad yesterday, Your Excellency, when you talked about Ajaokuta Steel, and I believe the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel project will give fillip to our attempt to increase local content in the assembly in our lines.
“We have welding and painting shops to fabricate and paint trucks and trailers of different types so as to enhance local content of CKD operations of commercial vehicles manufacturing in Nigeria.
“In the next 12 months, we will begin to fabricate different types of trailers and tippers in our plant to increase value addition of up to 40 to 60 per cent with the goal to achieve domestic self-sufficiency and serve the West Africa regional market.”
Dangote Sinotruck WA Limited, according to him, is an assembler and producer of four lines of commercial vehicles, covering heavy duty trucks, medium trucks, light trucks and other semi trailers, all of which serve the local transportation industry.
He went on, stating, “As you are aware, Dangote also owns majority shares of Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria in Kaduna where we assemble small vehicles. We (DSWAL) are a joint venture company with a total investment of 100 million dollars formed for the truck assembly which is owned 60 per cent by Dangote industries, 30 percent by Sinotruck China and five per cent by Andas.
In his remarks just before flagging off the CKD cabin production and leading the guests on a tour of the DSWAL many production sections, the Senate President lauded the Dangote Group’s investments in Lagos, in other parts of the country and outside Nigeria.
Addressing Alhaji Dangote as the President of the Dangote Group Worldwide, Senator Akpabio commended him for his series of investments that have provided employment for thousands of Nigerians.
“I know as you are investing here in Nigeria, you are doing the same thing in other countries, particularly in Africa . You are there in Kenya, Togo, Malawi, Senegal, Ethiopia and so many other countries. You are our own brand and our export to the rest of the world. May God continue to prosper you,” the Senate President said.
He extolled the performance of Gov. Sanwo-Olu in Lagos, promising to lodge “a positive report with the President in Abuja on how you, Sanwo-Olu as the governor, has been collaborating with the Federal Government to take the children off the street yhrough gainful employment.”
Sanwo-Olu asserted that the Ikeja plant, which has the capacity to produce 10,000 vehicles annually, can employ about 3,000 people in Nigeria.
The governor expressed certainty that Nigeria, with an investment like the refinery, can reach its projected $1 trillion GDP by 2030.
Sanwo-Olu claimed in a statement published on X that the Ikeja plant, which can build 10,000 trucks a year, can employ roughly 3,000 people in Nigeria.
Sanwo-Olu said, “Today ,I joined the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio for the commissioning of the CKD plant at Dangote Sinotruk West Africa Limited in Ikeja”
“With the capacity to assemble and produce 10,000 trucks annually, Dangote Sinotruk West Africa is set to create about 3,000 jobs across Nigeria.Congrats to Alhaji Aliko Dangote for his remarkable efforts towards industrialisation in Nigeria and Africa”
Peoplesmind
