A tricycle manufacturing firm, Simba Group, at the weekend disclosed plans to establish a manufacturing plant in Nigeria.
It said this was aimed at ensuring job creation and helping to improve Nigeria’s economy.
This was disclosed by the company’s Abuja Branch Manager, Ravi Bajaj ‎at the launch of TVS Deluxe tricycle in Abuja.
He hinted that the firm had commenced talks ‎with the Federal Ministry of Trade and Industry to facilitate the production process.
“We are actually working very seriously to setup our assemblage plant next year so that we can have more Nigerians empowered through the factory. That is the next phase and we are already in talk with some state governments and we are getting lots of interest,” he said.
Bajaj who also represented the firm’s Managing Director, Vinay Grover, added that the company was already in partnership with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to empower unemployed youths in the country.
On his part, NDE Director of Procurement, Mr Adegbite Adebayo expressed the agency’s willingness to partner the firm in job creation.
“NDE is interested and always willing to partner any individual or corporate organisation that is ready to provide a means of generating employment for our people. I think all over the world, the fulcrum of employment generation has always been when things are manufactured within the country,” he said.
He noted that although the tricycle is still being assembled in Nigeria, Adebayo said, “I think over time, it is going to provide opportunity for Nigerians to be able to manufacture this. So in terms of technology transfer this is the beginning, so I think it is in the right direction in terms of providing employment for the people.
“Small scale industry is the fulcrum of any economy, so small scale industry can be developed from this. The engine can be developed by a group of people, even the parts. So from assemblage we can also go into manufacturing and from manufacturing there will be many rooms to generate more employment.”
and then