Nigeria has banned imports of used cars which are more than five years old,
according to the website africast.com.
The ban, from 1 January 2002, was announced in Abuja Wednesday by Women and
Social Development Minister Aisha Ismail, after the weekly Federal Executive
Council meeting, the website said, adding that the government recently stopped
imports of used refrigerators and air conditioners.
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Ismail said though the government was aware of the implication of the ban on
the populace, many of whom could not afford new cars due to the downturn in
the economy, it was determined to discourage dumping of scraps in the country,
africast.com reported.
“Most of the cars being imported into the country are supposed to be fairly
used cars, but because of the way Nigeria has been so abused by people in and
outside, they bring [in] totally dead cars,” the website quoted Ismail
as saying.
Africast.com said that it remains to be seen how the government plans to enforce
the ban, considering that a large number of the imported cars, locally called
&’Tokunbo’, are brought into the country through illegal entry points.
But analysts told africast.com that the ban could lead to an increase in the
prices of used cars already imported into the country, thereby creating more
hardship for the people in a country with an inefficient public transport system.
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