Speech at the African Automotive Industry Conference 2013, 18-19 April, Lusaka Zambia

Speech at the African Automotive Industry Conference 2013, 18-19 April, Lusaka Zambia

(By the AAIA Ag. Chairman / Program Coordinator)

The Programme Director; Minister of Transport, Zambia-; Co-sponsors; Representatives and leaders from Public and Private Organizations; Development Partners; Distinguished guests;

Ladies and gentlemen

Thank you for your participation and greetings to you all, particularly to all the stakeholders and partners who have worked so hard to make this conference a reality.

Today for the first time (1^st time) Africa is meeting with all automotive industry stakeholders regionally trying to foster a partnership that will help to collectively develop, promote and represent the African Automotive Sector to relevant organizations and manufacturers. There are a lot of issues that comprise in this sector; right from the vehicle technology, points of sale, aftermarket issues, automobile after sales services, environment, used vehicles, vehicle inspection, positive and negative externalities arising from the widening auto industry, its role to the economic growth and general life circles, infrastructure, science, enterprise and the business side of it, policies and regulation to mention but a few…….

This program is not only about automobiles or motor vehicles themselves and spare parts but also about other supporting infrastructures, such as petrol stations, roads, garages, regulatory authorities, research organizations, governments, which need to be involved to enable an integrated approach to this industry in Africa.

Therefore, although the primary partners in this project are National Automotive Cluster Associations, auto companies and their respective sub members or industry suppliers – many other partners need to play an important part in making this initiative a success, including the private sector and other national and local government role-players such as the Ministries of Transport, Trade & Industry, Energy, Science and Technology, municipalities, National Revenue Authorities, Researchers & Statisticians, car manufacturers, universities, technical institutes and develop partners.

The African Automotive industry is dominated by the aftermarket and after sales service and not the manufacturing side of it, yet the aftermarket is not integrated, not well organized, poorly regulated and relying mainly on auto imports with the main industry suppliers being;  Japan, Germany, Britain, India, China, USA, South Korea and South Africa.  This renders direct and indirect risks to the growing auto industry in Africa as some third party industry suppliers exploit the weaknesses and fragmentation of the industry. Where also sometimes Africa is used as a dumping ground for the used motor vehicles despite their subsidizing role played in the African poor transport systems coupled with low Vehicle Per Capita.

From the Consumers point of view, auto customers or owners have a challenge of being exploited out of their ignorance by auto mechanics, they can’t distinguish which services they want, suppliers, repair centers are poor, etc.

The car manufacturers need to improve their after sales services and involvement in the aftermarket arena because in Africa vehicle maintenance is poor, expensive, poor vehicle repair & maintenance technology.  Further, the Automobile producing countries should more responsible for the after-sales and aftermarket effects in the automobile consuming economies / countries.  When you look at most of the global automotive programs, the African region or chapters are not included these initiatives yet Africa is also consumer of this industry.

The weak and disjointed automotive industry in Africa makes it hard to formally track the industry at both national and regional level – Poor national automotive Policies, non-existent automotive policies,   No formal industry analyses, studies, statistics and industry reports.

The job creation aspect, the technical and human potential concentrated in the automotive industry is enormous, and if we relate it to modern trends and social needs, it can be used to work profitably and responsibly.

We must take into account that society and environment will increasingly put pressure on the automotive culture or industry in Africa and yet there are no industry structures or frameworks to deal with this pressure. Over the past century, the automobile industry has crowded society, and we are witnessing a situation, where some people argue that cars are not serving society so much as people are serving cars.  And if we already have one billion cars in the world today, then I think there is a need for specific department in the UN / UNDP structure for the Automotive Industry because of its size and importance to human mankind and economic growth.  The proposed UN department will universally cater for planning and mitigating issues arising from the Automotive Industry worldwide.  Much as we notice the existence of some UN programs like the UN Road Safety campaigns and UNIDO which don’t adequately represent the Automotive Industry worldwide.

We therefore call upon all auto stakeholders, auto car manufacturers, dealers, agents, international cooperation programs, industry related organizations, development partners and government departments to support the African Automotive Industry Alliance and join us as we drive the African Automotive Industry towards a sustainable growth.

Thank you.

Geoffrey Bulayi

Ag. Chairman / Program Coordinator , African Automotive Industry Alliance (AAIA)

P.O.Box 29324 Kampala, Uganda. , Email : africanautomotivei@yahoo.com , aidaug@yahoo.com  , Tel : +256 772632211 , +256 794 632211, Bombo Road, Nalubega Complex – Kampala , Website: www.africanmotors.org

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