The Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company, ANAMMCO, has begun third-party assembly of trucks, bringing its factory in Enugu partially back to life.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the company now assembles Shacman trucks for Transit Support Services, a Nigerian company, after recalling some of its previously downsized personnel.

Speaking during a policy monitoring visit by the National Council on Privatisation at the weekend in Enugu, the Chairman of the company, Godwin Okeke, said the development was made possible by the new Nigeria Automobile Industry Development Policy.

Mr. Okeke said the policy, pronounced in 2013, had enhanced investment, employment and capacity utilisation of assembly plants which had been “overtly sub-optimal’’.

“In order to sustain the growth and development of this policy, it is expedient that it is entrenched by appropriate legislation to guard against frequent and arbitrary policy reversal which has constituted a high risk factor to investment in the country.

“Faithfulness in adhering to the implementation timelines would engender confidence of global stakeholders on the viability,’’ he said.

The industrialist also called on the Federal Government to curb the activities of smugglers which threatened the industry.

He also pleaded with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria to reschedule the company’s legacy debts by one year and to stop the litigation arising from the debts.

He also called on the Federal Government to contribute its pre-privatisation equity holding for the settlement of the retirement benefits inherited by the company to the tune of about N1 billion.

Responding, the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Nwanze Okidegbe, who led the delegation, said the visit was to assess the performance of companies privatised under the auspices of the National Council on Privatisation.

Mr. Okidegbe said the Federal Government was determined to provide the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive in the country.

He said the visit was not a fault-finding one but to give the government first-hand information about how the companies were doing.

ANAMMCO was established in 1977 as a joint venture between the Federal Government and Daimler AG of Germany. Its factory was commissioned in 1981 and has a capacity to assemble 7,500 units of trucks and 1,000 units of buses in one shift of production.

(NAN)