The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has started a nationwide registration of motor dealers to create a more organised, transparent, and data-driven automotive market in Nigeria. This initiative aims to provide a verifiable identity for legitimate motor dealerships and address challenges associated with informality, fragmented records, inadequate data, and limited visibility of operators in the sector.
The NADDC Director-General, Otunba Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, stated that the exercise is not designed to impose another administrative requirement on motor dealers, but to establish a credible system for identifying and documenting legitimate businesses. He made these remarks during a sensitization programme on the dealership registration framework for the North-West region in Kaduna.
The registration framework will enable the Council to develop a reliable database of motor dealerships across the country, providing the government with better information on the size, distribution, and activities of operators within the automotive market. This will strengthen policy formulation and support the development of interventions capable of addressing the actual needs and challenges confronting motor dealers and the wider automotive sector.
Registered dealers will be better positioned to access institutional finance and business opportunities because financial institutions and potential business partners will have a verifiable means of identifying and assessing legitimate operators. Osanipin added that the framework will also help strengthen consumer confidence by making it easier to distinguish legitimate dealerships from operators whose businesses have not been properly documented.
The National President of the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON), Prince Ajibola Adedoyin, welcomed the initiative, saying proper regulation of the subsector will enable dealers to establish stronger identities and participate more effectively in the development of automotive policies. Adedoyin noted that motor dealers remain an important component of the national economy and had previously drawn the government's attention to the need for proper regulation and organisation of the sector.
The NADDC said the North-West region is particularly important to the registration exercise due to its large vehicle and automotive products market, driven by commercial activities, agriculture, transportation, logistics, and regional trade. The Council urged motor dealers across the region and the country to participate in the registration exercise, assuring stakeholders that it will continue to engage dealers, AMDON, state governments, financial institutions, and other relevant agencies.
The initiative is part of the Council's broader efforts to build a structured, sustainable, and competitive automotive industry in line with the objectives of the National Automotive Industry Development Plan. The NADDC aims to create a more organised and transparent automotive market, and the registration exercise is a significant step towards achieving this goal.
Key points
- The NADDC has commenced a nationwide registration of motor dealers to create a more organised and transparent automotive market in Nigeria.
- The registration framework will provide a verifiable identity for legitimate motor dealerships and address challenges associated with informality and inadequate data.
- The exercise will enable the Council to develop a reliable database of motor dealerships, strengthening policy formulation and supporting the development of interventions for the automotive sector.
