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GAC Motor Tackles Unemployment With Assembly Plant

Published

5 years ago

December 3, 2021

…Extends Partnership To ICAN

CHIDI UGWU, ABUJA

The CIG Motors Company Limited, the sole distributors of GAC brand of vehicles in Nigeria on Wednesday declared that its coming factory would serve as a major employment creation for the Nigerian economy.

The General Manager, CIG Motors Company Limited, Mr. Arogundade Jubril, gave the hint while fielding questions from journalists on the company’s new partnership with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) to mark the Professional body’s 51st Annual Conference in Abuja.

CIG Motors donated a brand new GAC GS3 Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) to the body of accountants as part of reciprocal support for their endorsement of the band and to mark their annual conference.

Mr. Jubril said the partnership with the professional body and indeed other similar partnerships in the past is a way of showing how the quickly the GAC is being accepted as a brand to look out for in Nigeria’s automobile market.

“We are here in Abuja again with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) to celebrate their 51st Annual Conference and also to exhibit the GAC Motor brand as we usually do.

“This event is a big event and our presence here shows how GAC Motor is being accepted in the Nigerian market. In all the sectors, from the government to private sector you can see how the acceptance is coming.
“We recently showcased the brand at the recent Abuja International Motor Fair, this event has provided another opportunity to engage with Abuja people. We have about 3000 people attending this event live and about 2000 joining online and we have been able to reach all of them. So this partnership with ICAN is strategic for us. It is also a way of saying GAC Motor is the brand to look out for in the Nigerian automobile industry.

Jubril said the brand had also formed similar partnership with different organizations including Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) among others while calling on other institutions and organisations in both private and public sector to come for such arrangements.

“Nigeria cannot move forward without industrialization. Every organized nations in the world solved their issues of poverty through industrialization, the same thing must happen to Nigeria. If China could do it Nigeria can do better so we as GAC Motor are not only in the business of selling cars but we are interested in making sure that the environment in which we sell the cars is conducive enough for us to do business. So we create jobs everyday through our companies and sister companies.

“The SKD factory we have is currently run and managed by Nigerians. We have created a lot of employment already but we are moving forward with partnership with Lagos State government to go into real manufacturing of GAC Motor in Nigeria which will create a lot of employment” he said.

Some of the members of ICAN found at the stand of GAC Motor, were full of praise for the vehicles displayed at the event.

Istchay OJ, of the Nuel OJ Holdings, simply described the GAC brand as reliable stressing his company had already bought two vehicles from the Chinese firm.
“We bought two cars from them before. I think they are good brand because those cars have not broken down like most. We have been using them for more than a year, good customer service repairs, you know that is why I came and see which new models they have. Like I said I will definitely say ‘reliable'”.

Atolola Dayo, an ICAN member, said he was so impressed with the beauty of the vehicles that he decided to take pictures with all the vehicles on display.

“I like the aesthetic of the vehicles, the body is a total steel. It is a full masterpiece. And the leather seats are wow. I know their showroom in Lagos but I didn’t know they have something as beautiful as this”.

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Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold

Published

3 hours ago

October 28, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.

The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.

Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.

According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.

“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.

“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”

The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.

Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.

“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.

Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.

Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.

He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.

Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.

He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.

To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.

In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization

Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.

Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.

“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.

In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee

is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.

The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

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