Dangote Orders N63 Billion Worth Of Trucks From Nigerian Auto Company, ANAMMCO
Dangote Group
has in the last five years invested over N63 billion in the South East
with the purchase of over 3,500 units of locally assembled Shacman
trucks at the production plant of Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company
(ANAMMCO), Enugu.
The order was delivered over a period of
five years after Dangote Group signed an agreement with Transit Support
Services (TSS), a subsidiary of ABC Transport PLC.
The partnership started in 2016 with an
initial order of 350 Trucks by Dangote and as of Sunday, February 23,
2020, no fewer than 3,500 trucks have been supplied to Dangote from the
ANAMMCO plant. Each of the trucks costs over N18m.
Apart from being the single largest
buyer of the locally assembled trucks, the patronage by Dangote Group
has revived the ANAMMCO plant, a vehicle assembly facility commissioned
in 1980 by the Federal Government in partnership with Mercedes Benz.
Speaking at the weekend after a tour of
the expansive ANAMMCO plant which was filled with Dangote trucks
undergoing semi knocked down (SKD) production, Chairman of TSS, Mr.
Frank Nneji said if not for Dangote’s magnanimity and his commitment to
empower local manufacturers, the ANAMMCO plant would have remained
perpetually moribund.
According to him, the revival of ANAMMCO
was made possible by Dangote’s patronage “in identifying a plant that
has capacity in the south-east, in Enugu to give us the opportunity to
produce trucks locally instead of importing them.”
He said, “And of course you know what it
does for us here in the South East. For more than seven years this
plant was shut down. There was no activity here until we made an
agreement with Shacman group and started skeletally. But we were only to
start full step production when we offered the logistics solutions to
Dangote and the production facility of ANAMMCO way back in 2016. That
was the time we signed agreement for the first 500 units of trucks.”
Nneji who added that 90 per cent of
trucks produced at ANAMMCO plant were for Dangote said the patronage has
also brought back Onne Port in Rivers State which he disclosed has
handled over 3000 containers since ANAMMCO was resuscitated.
He said, “ANAMMCO like I told you is a
plant that was commissioned in 1980 by the Federal Government, it used
to be in collaboration with Mercedes Benz. Of course you know what has
happened to the auto industry. We had gone down over a long period prior
to the inception of the automotive policy.
“What we are saying in ANAMMCO coming
back is actually as a result of this auto policy. This is one of the
benefits. And the second thing is the benefit of Dangote’s patronage in
identifying a plant that has capacity in the south-east, in Enugu to
give us the opportunity to produce trucks locally instead of importing
them.
“And of course you know what it does for us here in the South East.
For more than seven years this plant was
shut down. There was no activity here until we made an agreement with
Shacman group and started skeletally. But we were only to start full
step production when we offered the logistics solutions to Dangote and
the production facility of ANAMMCO way back I 2016. That was the time we
signed agreement for the first 500 units of trucks.
“What this initial capacity surge did
was to ensure that all the staff of ANAMMCO who had been at home had to
come back to work. Some local suppliers, lubricants, electrolytes and
the rest of them also had to come back to doing business. And it goes
even further than that because we are in Enugu, we used the Onne Ports
to bring in these goods. You know many people are complaining that Onne
Port is moribund, no good is coming. Of course we directed all the
containers here and from 2016 up till now courtesy of Dangote, the Onne
Port has handled more than 3000 containers coming to this place.
“So you see how we can spur capacity by
utilizing our local capacity that is available and this is courtesy of
Dangote and the patronage and each time we had approached Dangote, we
said, ‘look if you are going to do this number of trucks, it is
important that the Shacman apart from its quality, we are also
representing a firm that has production capacity in the South East in
the stake of ANAMMCO.’ That is how Dangote is keeping the South East
automobile sector working.
“According to the National Automotive
Policy, Enugu and Nnewi has been designated as the automotive centre for
the South East in this axis. This is because of the stay of ANAMMCO
over a period. They have acquired a lot of technical capacity. There is
also a training school that produces technicians, training young school
leavers here.
“So this is what we are doing here. This
place is busy producing quality trucks with Dangote as the largest
single patron. 90 per cent of the trucks produced here are for Dangote.
“Totally here we have done 3,500 units
for Dangote. Additionally the trucks used at the refinery are also
Shacman trucks. Because of the quality of Shacman trucks Dangote also
patronizes that for the refinery.”
General Manager, Media, Dangote Group,
Sunday Esan said the group is satisfied with the Shacman Trucks churned
out from Onne Ports, adding that the partnership would last for a long
time as the group continues to expand across its various business
segments.
Esan added that as the Dangote refinery
comes on stream, the group would require more trucks hence the sustained
relationship with TSS/ANAMMCO.
According to him, the massive investment
in the south-east is contrary to the assumption that Aliko Dangote, the
President/CEO of Dangote Group is not patronizing local manufacturers.
“This is why he agreed we should come
and see how ANAMMCO plant has come alive, the impact he has made in the
country and the employment this patronage has generated,” he said.
Dangote Orders N63 Billion Worth Of Trucks From Nigerian Auto Company, ANAMMCO
![Dangote Orders N63 Billion Worth Of Trucks From Nigerian Auto Company, ANAMMCO]()
Reviewed by opeyemi
on
8:00:00 am
Rating:
