Electric cars will dominate Nigeria’s roads within 20 years — Wale Tinubu

The Group Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, Wale Tinubu, has projected that electric vehicles (EVs) will make up 50 percent of all vehicles in Nigeria within the next two decades.

Tinubu made the projection on Tuesday during an interview with Arise News TV on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

He noted that global trends already favour electric mobility, citing China where one out of every two cars currently being produced is electric and cheaper to manufacture than conventional vehicles.

According to him, Nigeria’s vast gas reserves position the country to generate affordable electricity in the long term, which will further accelerate the shift from combustion engine vehicles to electric alternatives.

“With the abundance of gas in Nigeria, we will eventually generate very cheap electricity,” Tinubu said. “So I see a big movement from combustion vehicles to electric vehicles over the next 20 years in Nigeria. It is definitely going to happen.”

Speaking on the country’s investment climate, Tinubu said Nigeria remains open for business and largely stable, adding that areas experiencing insecurity account for less than two percent of the nation’s total landmass.

He described the growth of private and indigenous capital as one of Nigeria’s most significant developments, noting that local investors are increasingly driving economic activity.

Tinubu also said the current administration has taken difficult but necessary economic decisions, including the removal of petroleum subsidies and the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market, stressing that the positive effects of these reforms are already becoming evident.