The French firm CFAO Automobile Group has concluded arrangements to begin vehicle assembly operations in its sprawling plants located in Nigeria’s commercial city of Lagos, the local media reported Friday.
The private Vanguard newspaper quoted Managing Director of CFAO Olivier Levigne as saying the company was ready to commence operations at its 15,000-square-metre land at Amuwo Odofin Industrial Area on the outskirts of the city.
He said its workshop and warehouses were now being converted into a vehicle assembly line to engage in local assembly of Mitsubishi and Fuso light trucks and pickups.
The French company’s renewed interest in vehicle assemblage came as a result of the huge market and the recent opportunities offered by the Nigerian government in the new Nigerian Automotive Industrial Development Plan (NAIDP).
Part of NAIDP objectives is to assist vehicle manufacturing and assembly plants to invest in the local economy in order to reduce the importation of vehicles and the huge foreign exchange drain that goes with it.
