Nigeria moves closer to hosting Africa’s first large-scale electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem

Nigeria’s ambition to lead Africa’s transition into electric mobility is beginning to take concrete shape, as the country moves closer to hosting the continent’s first fully integrated electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing ecosystem.

At the centre of this push is a new strategic partnership between the Federal Government of Nigeria and South Korea’s Asia Economic Development Committee (AEDC), an agreement designed to accelerate local EV production while building the supporting infrastructure needed for nationwide adoption. The understanding was formalised in late January 2026, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s long-term industrial and energy transition agenda.

Rather than a single, one-off factory project, the collaboration is structured as a phased industrial programme. Early stages will focus on vehicle assembly, allowing operations to commence quickly, before expanding into full-scale local manufacturing. Once fully operational, the facility is expected to produce up to 300,000 electric vehicles annually and generate roughly 10,000 direct jobs, strengthening Nigeria’s manufacturing base and workforce capacity.

Beyond production numbers, the initiative is designed to deepen local capabilities. It is expected to drive technology transfer, attract fresh investment, and support skills development across engineering, design, research, and innovation. The broader objective is to build a sustainable automotive ecosystem, one that integrates clean energy, local value addition, and global competitiveness.

The project aligns closely with Nigeria’s National Energy Transition Plan and the National Automotive Industry Development Plan, both of which prioritise reduced emissions, industrial growth, and a gradual shift away from fossil-fuel dependence. Together, these policies reflect a deliberate effort to position Nigeria as a hub for green manufacturing in Africa.

Nigeria’s journey toward electric mobility did not begin overnight. As far back as 2021, government agencies were already laying the groundwork for locally produced electric vehicles, including the formation of technical teams focused on EV development. In 2022, further momentum was added through international partnerships aimed at assembling and manufacturing electric vehicles within the country.

Despite ongoing concerns around power supply and road infrastructure, interest in electric vehicles has continued to grow. This interest is reinforced by Nigeria’s long-term targets: the national Energy Transition Plan envisions a complete shift to electric vehicles by 2060, while Lagos State has committed to reaching the same goal by 2050. In the interim, several local and foreign-backed companie, such as Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing, SAGLEV, Jet Motor Company, Spiro, NEV Motors, and EMVC, are already contributing to the emerging EV landscape.

International attention is also intensifying. In 2025, China announced plans to establish electric vehicle factories and related manufacturing ventures in Nigeria, highlighting the country’s increasing appeal as a destination for clean-energy investment. Analysts suggest that such projects could help unlock Nigeria’s rich mineral resources while strengthening domestic value chains and export potential.

Taken together, these developments signal a broader industrial shift and with policy backing, growing international partnerships, and an expanding local manufacturing base, Nigeria is steadily positioning itself not merely as an adopter of electric vehicles, but as a central player in shaping Africa’s electric mobility future.

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti: When the World Finally Bowed to Afrobeat

For a man who spent his life confronting power, defying convention, and refusing to ask for permission, recognition was never the point. Yet, nearly thirty years after his death, the world’s most influential music institution has finally paused, looked back, and said it out loud: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti mattered.

On a quiet night in Los Angeles, ahead of the 2026 Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy posthumously honoured the Nigerian icon with a Lifetime Achievement Award, making Fela the first African artist to receive the distinction. It was a historic moment, not just for one man, but for an entire continent whose creative brilliance has too often gone unacknowledged.

The award was received by members of the Kuti family, custodians of a legacy that refuses to fade. As his children stood where their father never did in his lifetime, the moment carried layers of meaning; pride, irony, and vindication all at once. 

Fela, after all, was never one for trophies. He made music as a weapon. Afrobeat was not designed for comfort; it was built to provoke, educate, and awaken. Long before African music became fashionable on global charts, Fela was already using sound to interrogate power, calling out military dictators, mocking corruption, and challenging both colonial and local systems of oppression. His songs were long, unfiltered, and unapologetically African.

That same defiance made him an outsider in many elite spaces. Despite his global influence, Fela was never nominated for a Grammy while alive. To his family, this belated honour feels deserved, if overdue. “Better late than never,” his daughter Yeni has said, a sentiment shared by many who believe Africa’s cultural contributions are still waiting for full recognition on the world stage.

There is a striking irony in the moment. Fela was famously anti-establishment, yet here he is being celebrated by one of the most influential cultural establishments in the world. For those who knew him, the contradiction feels almost poetic. If he were alive, some imagine him raising a clenched fist, half-amused, half-triumphant, proof that even the institutions he challenged could not ignore him forever.

Born in Abeokuta in 1938, Fela’s journey began far from the glitter of global stages. He trained in music in London before returning home to Nigeria, where he began fusing highlife, jazz, funk, soul, and Yoruba rhythms into something entirely new. Afrobeat was not just a genre; it was a philosophy, one that insisted African stories, sounds, and struggles deserved to be heard on their own terms.

As his influence grew, so did the backlash. His Lagos commune, the Kalakuta Republic, became a symbol of resistance. His album Zombie openly ridiculed military obedience, provoking a brutal state response that left many injured and ultimately led to the death of his mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, herself a towering activist. Arrests, harassment, and imprisonment followed, yet Fela never softened his voice. Instead, he became a global symbol of artistic resistance.

Decades later, his impact remains unmistakable. Modern Afrobeats, now a global force, traces its DNA directly to Fela’s innovations. Artists across continents from pop icons to alternative rock legends continue to draw inspiration from his sound, his style, and his fearless commitment to truth.

When Fela died in 1997 at just 58, Lagos stood still. An estimated one million people turned his funeral into a historic procession, a final reminder that his connection to the people was deeper than any award could measure.

Today, his children carry the torch. Through the New Afrika Shrine and the annual Felabration festival, Fela’s music and message continue to reach new generations, not as nostalgia, but as a living call to consciousness, unity, and African self-belief.

The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award does not change who Fela was. It does not sanitise his rebellion or soften his message. What it does is confirm what Africa has always known: that Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was not just ahead of his time, he was larger than it.

The world may have arrived late but Afrobeat had already won.