• Nigeria now has ~20,000 EVs on the road. While under 1% of the total fleet, adoption is surging in urban areas like Lagos and Abuja.
• SAGLEV’s Imota plant leads with 2,600 units annually. Expansion to 10k is possible to meet the 2030 local content requirements.
• The 2025 Green Mobility Bill offers VAT waivers and mandates chargers at fuel stations to tackle power and infrastructure gaps.

Nigeria’s automotive landscape is undergoing a historic shift. In 2025, the nation’s electric vehicle (EV) market transitioned from a niche interest into a structured industrial sector. Current data estimates that between 15,000 and 20,000 electric vehicles are now navigating Nigerian roads. While this represents just under 1% of the national fleet, the trajectory is steep, driven by aggressive local assembly, landmark policy reforms, and a growing ecosystem of battery-swapping and charging solutions.

The cornerstone of this transition is the emergence of local production capacity. SAGLEV Electromobility Nigeria Limited has led the charge with its dedicated EV assembly plant in Imota, Ikorodu, Lagos—the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. The facility currently possesses an installed capacity to assemble approximately 2,600 vehicles annually on a single shift. However, the plant is designed for scalability; by implementing additional shifts, SAGLEV can ramp up production to 10,000 units per year without requiring further physical expansion. This industrial milestone was recently recognised by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association, which named SAGLEV the "2025 Nigeria EV Brand of the Year."

This industrial growth is being met with robust regulatory tailwinds. The Federal Government’s 2025 EV import rules have significantly lowered barriers to entry, offering Value Added Tax (VAT) exemptions and removing import adjustment taxes on electric models. Under the "Nigeria First" policy, the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has mandated that foreign automakers must partner with Nigerian firms to establish local plants, with a target of sourcing 30% of components locally by 2030. Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, has emphasised that these frameworks are designed to build investor confidence and ensure that the green transition also catalyses domestic job creation.

However, the "Big Three" challenges of the Nigerian market—affordability, power stability, and infrastructure—require more than just assembly lines. While SAGLEV focuses on passenger cars, other players, such as Innoson Vehicle Motors (IVM) and Spiro, are diversifying the market with electric buses and two-wheelers. To address the fragile national power grid, manufacturers are increasingly integrating off-grid solutions. Many new EV models are now optimised for charging via 20kVA generators or dedicated solar-powered stations, reducing the dependency on the traditional utility sector.

Furthermore, the sector's growth is being sustained by innovative "Battery-as-a-Service" (BaaS) models and battery-swapping stations, which lower the vehicle's upfront cost—the primary hurdle for the average Nigerian consumer. As the NADDC continues its capacity-building programs, including specialised technician training and certification, the focus is shifting toward the "downstream" EV economy: maintenance, charging networks, and second-life battery recycling.

Cynthia Ebot Takang, Edited by Idriss Linge