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14/08/2026

EVs vs ICE

14/08/2026

The electric vehicle revolution has a problem nobody likes to talk about.

EVs are modern. They are cheaper to maintain. They are incredibly nice to drive.

So why haven’t they completely replaced petrol and diesel cars, even in countries like the US and China?

One major reason is simple: time.

If you’re driving from one state to another in a petrol car, you stop at a filling station, spend a few minutes, and keep moving.

With an EV, you have to find a charger and wait.

That becomes a much bigger problem when you’re running a courier, logistics or commercial vehicle where every hour matters.

EVs may be the future.

But the future still has to work for the person whose vehicle is also their business.

Do you think EVs will eventually solve the charging and range problem?

Automobile Technology Business FranklyBusinessPodcast

13/08/2026

Do you agree?

13/08/2026

Sometimes, the biggest problem with government procurement isn’t the vehicle.

It’s who gets the contract.

When procurement becomes political compensation, the question stops being:

“Who can supply the best vehicle?”

And becomes:

“Who are we giving this to?”

And ultimately, taxpayers pick up the bill.

This conversation raises a bigger question: How do we make public procurement more transparent, competitive and merit-based?

Watch the full conversation and tell me what you think.

13/08/2026

Nigeria’s dollar shortage forced Nord Motors to rethink how it did R&D.

For years, the company relied on lecturers and researchers in Germany and China to help with research and development.

Then getting dollars became increasingly difficult.

So instead of giving up on R&D, Nord asked a simple question:

“Do we not have universities here?”

That question led to a partnership with the University of Lagos — and eventually the creation of the Nord UNILAG Innovation Complex.

Today, lecturers and students use the facility to work on automotive ideas, understand how vehicles are actually made, and turn academic knowledge into practical solutions.

And there’s another benefit: talent.

Students from UNILAG now come through the facility for internships, creating a pipeline of young Nigerian talent into the automotive industry.

Sometimes, constraints force you to build the solution you should have built in the first place.

AutomotiveIndustry Nigeria Innovation R&D Engineering

12/08/2026

You cannot build local manufacturing if your biggest customer keeps buying from somewhere else.

That was one of the points Toby Ajayi of Nord Motors made during our conversation on the Frankly Business Podcast.

And it got me thinking about something we often miss when we talk about Nigeria’s manufacturing problem.

We talk about electricity.

We talk about infrastructure.

We talk about FX.

We talk about interest rates.

We talk about the cost of production.

All of these matter.

But there is another question we don’t ask enough:

Who is buying what Nigerian manufacturers are producing?

Toby explained that while the Federal Government has patronised Nord Motors, state governments have largely not done the same.

For a local manufacturer, government patronage isn’t simply another customer relationship. Large institutional orders can provide the demand needed to increase production, justify investment, employ more people and build economies of scale.

This is where B2G — business to government — becomes complicated.

Government wants local manufacturers to grow, but manufacturers also need government to create the demand and policy environment that makes that growth possible.

You can’t tell a manufacturer to “scale” while the market keeps rewarding imports.

If Nigeria genuinely wants indigenous manufacturing companies to become globally competitive, perhaps the conversation shouldn’t only be about protecting local manufacturers.

It should also be about creating a market for them to compete in.

Toby Ajayi’s perspective on this was fascinating.

Watch the clip and tell me:

Should Nigerian governments be doing more to deliberately patronise locally manufactured products?

11/08/2026

Six of Nigeria’s top 10 companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange are already customers of Nord Motors.

Think about that for a second.

Some of the biggest companies in the country — companies with serious procurement processes and serious money on the line — are choosing to buy Nigerian-made vehicles.

And Ajayi Oluwatobi Tobi Ajayi has a goal:

Make it 10 out of 10.

But there’s another side to the story.

According to Tobi, many Nigerian state governments still don’t buy from local manufacturers. The Federal Government and its MDAs do, but they represent only a fraction of the entire federation.

So the question isn’t simply:

“Can Nigeria make good cars?”

The evidence is already there.

The bigger question is:

Why aren’t more Nigerian institutions and businesses buying them?

Because manufacturing doesn’t grow on patriotism alone.

It grows when people and institutions actually buy.

And Nord is already proving that there is a market for world-class, locally manufactured vehicles.

Now, the goal is simple:

10 out of 10.

Would your company buy Nigerian-made vehicles?

🎙️ Full conversation with Tobi Ajayi of Nord Motors on the Frankly Business Podcast, in partnership with Nairametrics.

NigeriaBusiness Manufacturing BuyNigerian

10/08/2026

🇳🇬 Nigeria could lose its automotive market without ever building a competitive automotive industry.

As Japanese and Korean manufacturers begin to face stronger competition from China, the question is: who takes their place in Nigeria?

Tobi Ajayi of Nord Motion believes it would be a shame if Chinese companies simply replaced Japanese and Korean brands while Nigerian manufacturers remain on the sidelines.

His argument is simple: government patronage, the right tariff policies, financing for manufacturers AND customers, and stronger support for local production are critical.

Because with AfCFTA creating easier access across African markets, Nigeria could either become a manufacturing hub—or become an even bigger market for products made elsewhere.

Who do you think will dominate Nigeria’s auto market in the next 20 years? 🇳🇬🇨🇳

Watch the full conversation on the Frankly Business Podcast.

AutomotiveIndustry AfCFTA BusinessNigeria NigerianBusiness

09/08/2026

The government says it wants local manufacturing to grow. But does it actually buy local?

Toby Ajayi of Nord Motors breaks down one of the biggest challenges facing indigenous manufacturers in Nigeria: B2G — business to government.

According to Toby, while the Federal Government has patronised locally manufactured vehicles, state governments have largely failed to do the same.

And that matters.

Because you cannot build a strong manufacturing industry if the biggest institutions in the country keep looking abroad when they need products that can be made here.

Local manufacturing needs more than speeches and policies. It needs consistent demand, government patronage, and an environment where Nigerian manufacturers can actually scale.

So the question is simple:

If government wants Nigerians to buy Nigerian, shouldn’t government lead by example?

Watch the full conversation with Toby Ajayi of Nord Motors on the Frankly Business Podcast.

08/08/2026

NIGERIANS TRUST NEW CARS… JUST NOT FOR THEMSELVES. 😂

A businessman I know has bought over 20 brand-new Nord vehicles for his businesses.

Buses. Pickups. Trucks. Sedans.

But when it was time to buy his own personal car?

He bought a three-year-old Toyota from Japan.

I asked him:

“Why do you buy brand-new cars for your staff but Tokunbo for yourself?”

And the answer is fascinating.

For his business, he values reliability, warranty and predictability.

But for himself?

There’s also the perception that comes with driving an imported foreign car.

And that’s the Nigerian car-buying mentality we need to talk about.

We trust new Nigerian cars to run our businesses…

…but still want Tokunbo for our personal lives.

Would you buy a brand-new Nigerian car for yourself?

NigerianBusiness Manufacturing Tokunbo

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