Nigeria’s electrical car (EV) market is about for accelerated progress in 2026, as business executives challenge rising adoption pushed by increased gas prices, supportive coverage indicators, and growing personal sector investments.
That is in keeping with separate interviews performed by Nairametrics with EV distributors and assemblers working throughout Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt.
The executives disclosed that buyer inquiries greater than doubled in 2025, suggesting that 2026 might symbolize a tipping level for broader adoption amongst personal consumers and business fleet operators.
What they’re saying
Talking on the sector’s outlook, Roxettes Group Chairman Dr. Kaycee Orji stated the corporate, by way of Roxettes Motors, has intentionally championed electrical car adoption in Nigeria for a number of years, producing electrical, hybrid, and inner combustion engine automobiles.
In line with Orji, China’s aggressive transition to electrical automobiles as a transparent indication of the place the worldwide automotive business is headed.
“China is migrating absolutely by 2030. They’ve already achieved about 70 to 80 % of that transition—virtually 90 %,” Orji stated, including that ICE automobiles are anticipated to be phased out fully in China by the top of the last decade.
He warned that with out a clearly outlined EV transition technique, Nigeria dangers turning into a dumping floor for used ICE automobiles from international locations imposing strict phase-out timelines.
“The thought is to ship a sign that Nigeria will not be a dumping floor for used ICE automobiles from international locations which can be shifting away from them,” he defined.
Central to accelerating adoption, Orji stated, is the proposed Electrical Automobile Transition and Inexperienced Mobility Invoice, 2025, which he described as largely complete in addressing key obstacles to EV uptake.
In line with him, the invoice mandates authorities companies to transition to electrical automobiles, with precedence for regionally assembled fashions.
He added that the laws additionally goals to guard native traders by discouraging indiscriminate licensing of overseas EV assemblers with out robust native partnerships, whereas proposing incentives comparable to particular quantity plates to tell apart electrical automobiles from ICE automobiles.
“In China, inexperienced quantity plates are for electrical automobiles, whereas blue ones are for ICE automobiles. That visible distinction alone drives adoption,” Orji famous.
Extra context on the EV push
Past laws, Orji highlighted current fiscal incentives supporting the sector, together with a decreased import responsibility of 10% on absolutely constructed electrical automobiles.
He stated native meeting would additional improve the advantages by creating jobs and including worth to the Nigerian financial system.
He additionally referenced the Federal Authorities’s “Nigeria First” coverage and ongoing efforts by the Nationwide Automotive Design and Improvement Council (NADDC) as steps towards a extra investor-friendly automotive ecosystem.
“If Nigeria can maintain the tempo and the Electrical Automobile Invoice is dealt with with velocity, I see a increase in migration in 2026,” he stated, including that EV adoption would proceed even with out authorities backing resulting from their price and effectivity benefits.
Different business gamers echoed comparable optimism. Olabisi Ajayi, chief govt of an EV import and distribution firm, stated the removing of gas subsidies has strengthened the financial argument for electrical automobiles.
“If you evaluate the operating and upkeep prices of electrical automobiles to petrol-powered options—particularly now—companies are doing the maths and switching,” Ajayi stated.
Uche Madunagwu, one other EV distributor, stated sustained coverage alignment with personal funding might remodel EVs from a distinct segment choice right into a core a part of Nigeria’s transport system.
“This 12 months has the potential to set the inspiration for a decade of progress,” he stated.
Why this matter
The rising curiosity in electrical automobiles displays broader shifts in Nigeria’s power and transportation panorama following gas subsidy removing and persistently excessive petrol costs.
For companies and people alike, EVs are more and more being seen not simply as environmentally pleasant options, however as economically viable options with decrease long-term working prices.
If supportive laws such because the Electrical Automobile Invoice is handed and carried out successfully, Nigeria might cut back its dependence on imported used automobiles, stimulate native manufacturing, and place itself as a regional hub for electrical mobility.
What you need to know
Nigeria recorded a complete passenger car import of N527 billion in the third quarter of 2025, greater than double the N254 billion recorded in the identical interval in 2024.
- Knowledge from the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS) overseas commerce experiences present that passenger car imports rose sharply year-on-year.
- The federal authorities had instituted a National Action Plan for the Development of Electric Vehicles (EVDP), aiming for a minimum of 30% of automobiles produced regionally to be electrical by 2032, alongside efforts to scale back reliance on imported automobiles.
- Totally constructed electrical automobiles presently entice a decreased import responsibility of 10%.
The proposed Electrical Automobile Invoice seeks to mandate EV adoption throughout authorities companies and promote native meeting.
Nairametrics beforehand reported that the nation’s automotive and energy experts remain sharply divided over whether the nation is ready for a large-scale transition to electric vehicles (EVs).
