Over 40 Countries to Participate in the West Africa Automotive Show in Lagos

The West Africa Automotive Show (WAAS), sets to begin in May 16 to May 18, 2023 in Landmark Centre on Victoria Island, Lagos.

The organizers of the show, hinted that over 30 companies from China would exhibit at the trade fair. The also said India would hold its pavilion at the fair, while the inaugural WAAS conference would bring leading names from the automotive industry to discuss the potential to develop Nigeria’s own automotive parts’ sector.

WAAS conference chairman is the former director of planning and strategy of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) Luqman Mamudu.

In a statement by the managing director of BtoB Events, Jamie Hill, he said as exhibitor numbers and interest continues to increase, the 2023 show would be three times the size of last year’s event.

He said, “over 40 countries from five continents would participate in the fair, Major exhibitors will be the delegation from China which is finally able to return to the show after the travel restrictions have ended. Another boost comes with the Automotive Components and Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) bringing together 20 companies from India in a central pavilion showcasing motor vehicle parts and services.

“We are extremely pleased that ACMA is hosting its first country pavilion at WAAS, and we are excited b y the interest generated by the Chinese auto parts companies being able to return to Nigeria post-pandemic.

“And with the expansion of the exhibition space and the new conference, visitors will find the show provides them with much more information about the latest developments and even more new business opportunities for the car after-sales sector.”

The conference themed ‘Transition to Sustainable, Quality Automotive Parts Supply in West Africa’, the conference will look at the factors affecting the industry. Sessions will discuss topics such as national and international automotive policy, the Common External Tariff (CET), parts acquisition and funding, foreign exchange, and special funding for automotive assembly and components manufacturing.

The event which is set to run two days of exhibition, will bring together senior representatives of large automotive companies from Nigeria and West Africa. These will include assembly plants, distributors, importers, local and regional offices of international names.