The representative of Peugeot Automobile France in Nigeria, Eric Maydiey, has given reasons why the automobile company granted Dangote Group the franchise to construct and operate a new assembly plant in the country.
According to him, the new Dangote-Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (DPAN) was conceived after Asset Management of Nigeria, AMCON’s failure to declare the winner for the bidding process of the Kaduna assembly plant over a year after bidding for the company with 52m Euros.
Maydiey also noted that Dangote Group has decided to build another Complete Knock-Down (CKD) auto assembly line in another location in Kaduna, which will be more modern and cheaper to achieve. He further added that the new plant will be ready by 2019.
In his words:
“We plan to do CKD in the new plant because CKD has a lot of advantages, but with SKD (Semi-Knock Down), there is no advantage to the country”.
AMCON’s Response
But in a swift reaction, Jude Nwauzo, Head, Corporate Communications, AMCON, said it has not announced a winner in the bidding process noting that its divestment plan in PAN Limited is still on track.
In his words:
“We have not finalized who we are going to sell to. So many interests are there. We have financial advisers, we allow them to do their job”, he said.
PAN Limited, assemblers of Peugeot brand of automobiles in Nigeria, was incorporated on December 15, 1972, after about two decades of smooth operations, the company ran into stormy waters after series of policy somersaults by the government and inadequate tariff protection for local assembly plants.
With a huge debt of ₦30 billion by 2011 and no prospect of a private investor willing to risk his money in turning it around, in 2012, the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), acquired a controlling 80% shareholding and assumed board and management control.
In 2016, AMCON invited prospective investors to bid for its 80% percent stake in Peugeot Automobile Nigeria.
The new assembly plant by Dangote-Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited DPAN is a joint venture between Dangote Industries Limited, the Kaduna State Government, and Peugeot of France PSA Groupe.