NADDC TRAINS 15 ENGINEERS ON LOCAL CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
In a strategic move to boost automotive local content and reduce dependence on spare parts imports which currently gulps $1bn annually, the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and MIDAX IT company of South Korea have trained 15 engineers on Software automotive design skills.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the two- weeks training program that ended on Friday in Abuja, the NADDC Director General represented by Engr. Dr. Fidelis Achiv, Director, Research Design and Development, noted that the focus of the training is on spare parts production for over 11 million vehicles plying Nigerian roads.
He disclosed that the Council is working to achieve a local assembling component of 40 per cent from less than 1 per cent assembling capacity currently.
“We are working to achieve a level whereby we can go back to assembling vehicles that have up to 40 percent locally manufactured components” he said
He informed that NADDC is working tirelessly to ensure that components parts are produced locally and vehicles are manufactured at the level of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) to further create more job opportunities and add more value to the economy.
“Of the over 3,000 parts in a vehicle, if we can leverage on producing just 10 that we can beat our chest, that in the whole world, Nigeria produces these 10 components and they are best, the market is going to be huge. Our economy will change.
“So the essence is to train these engineers to be able to design parts, to be able to produce parts so that we can be self-sufficient in vehicle parts production in Nigeria,” he added.
Abdul-Lawal Zubair, Managing Director, FAZSAL Nigeria Limited, in his remarks, charged the participants to proffer innovative designs to advance the automotive industry.
Zubair said, “You have not just seen the theory of design but with practical. So as you go along, let them be proud of you. They can call you for advanced training. Possibly they can take you to South Korea for training. Don’t just know the software and keep it. Be innovative and give solutions”.
Responding, one of the participants, Lukman, thanked the Management Staff of the Council for the training opportunity.
“The knowledge that we gained in this training has widened my level of thinking and reasoning. Midas has taught me how to be creative. All we are interested in is how to be creative in terms of consuming what we produce. We try to produce what we consume as well,” he exclaimed.
The boot camp training focused on MIDAX NFC software for automotive design skills underscores Councils deep commitment to ensuring the manufacture of Nigerian made Vehicles of international standard, at competitive prices using both local human and material resources.
