How Motorcycle Ban Costs Manufacturers 25% Market Share in Lagos—MAN

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The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has revealed that motorcycle manufacturers lost 25% of their market share in Lagos State due to the ban on commercial motorcycle rides in some areas. According to Lambert Ekewuba, Chairman of the Motorcycle Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, the ban, which was initially implemented by Governor Babatunde Fashola in 2012, has had a significant impact on the industry.

“We lost over 25% of the market since the ban set in when Governor Babatunde Fashola was in power,” Ekewuba said in a phone interview with The PUNCH. He attributed the decline in sales to government policies, including motorcycle bans, epileptic power supply, foreign exchange challenges, and import tariffs.

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The motorcycle business thrives in urban cities, where the bans have been enforced. Ekewuba noted that “the motorcycle business thrives more in urban cities. Those are the places where they make more turnover. When motorcycles were allowed to operate, people had a much higher turnover.”

For instance, Bajaj used to sell over 3,000 units monthly before the restriction began. However, sales have dropped drastically since the bans came into effect, compounded by the rising cost of units now selling for between N2.2m and N2.5m

The sharp drop in local patronage has forced many motorcycle manufacturers and dealers to divert their markets to neighbouring West African countries such as Cameroon, Togo, Benin, and Ghana. “Many of them are resorting to going to the West Coast to sell,” Ekewuba said.

Despite the ban, some riders operate in prohibited areas out of desperation. “They are defying some of these orders just to make a living,” Ekewuba asserted.

Beyond the bans, the MOMAN boss lamented the larger economic and industrial challenges confronting the sector. “It is not easy to set up a factory in Nigeria,” he said. “The cost of running a factory is very expensive. There is no constant power. The dollar rate is high, and people cannot sell.”

He criticised the high import duty on raw materials needed for local production, which he said was discouraging local manufacturing. “To produce a motorcycle rim, you will pay 10% to import the raw materials. So, how can you make it? We like to import a complete rim rather than produce it with the attendant overhead costs.”

The unfavourable policy environment has made it difficult for original equipment manufacturers to transfer their technology to Nigeria. The industry’s struggles are further highlighted by the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s decision to crush 601 impounded motorcycles for violating traffic rules

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