By Debo Popoola
Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote is set to toe the path of Chief Innocent Chukwuma, the founder of Innoson Motors, the first indigenous auto manufacturing company in Nigeria. Report has it that Aliko Dangote, along with two state governments, has submitted a bid to acquire the ailing and under-performing Peugeot Automobiles of Nigeria, PAN.
PAN is a joint venture of Nigerian government and the French auto-maker, Peugeot. The company was established in 1969 under the military administration of Gen Yakubu Gowon , but started production of assembled cars in 1971. Cars produced by the company have been widely used by Nigerian governments as official cars.
But for many years, the company was moribund due to neglect by government and lack of proper management, and this led to its privatization in November 2006, in line with the then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government agenda to build a stronger, more competitive and diversified economy. ASD Motors emerged as the successful core investor and took over management of the company (Peugeot) in January 2007, with a 54.78 percent stake, making Sani Dauda, CEO of both ASD Motors and Peugeot Nigeria.
After the privatization, it was expected that the company would bounce back to its glory days, but it never happened. In October 2012, the Asset Management Company of Nigeria acquired the company following the accumulation of huge non-performing loans (NPL) indebtedness to banks.
The recent agitation by Nigerians for the patronization of Made-in-Nigeria products, especially automobiles, might have pushed Aliko Dangote to venture into production of automobiles. Though PAN only assembles Peugeot cars, but if acquired by Dangote, it might be upgraded to produce 100 percent locally made automobiles.
