Dangote Group has signed a long-term agreement with Transit Support Services Limited, an Enugu-based automaker, for the supply of Shacman trucks being assembled at the Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company Limited’s (ANAMMCO) factory in Emene, Enugu.
The agreement came shortly after the group purchased 3,500 trucks from the automaker worth N63 billion.
According to the Managing Director of the Transit Support Services, Mr Frank Nneji who spoke with journalists on Saturday after a facility tour of the truck assembly line at the ANAMMCO plant, the supplies amounted to over 90 per cent of all Shacman trucks assembled at the factory since the revival of the plant after a long period of abandonment.
“About 90 per cent of trucks produced here are for Dangote. Right now at the dump, we have about 300 units. Since last year, we have done 800 units. Dangote Group since inception has bought about 3,500 units from us. It also patronises the Shackman trucks for its refinery currently being built in Lagos,” he said.
He said the project had also kept busy the Onne port, which was dormant for many years.
According to him, the port is used for the delivery of vehicle components supplied to the ANAMMCO plant by its partner from China, Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile Import & Export Company.
Nneji, who is also the Managing Director of ABC Transport Plc, the franchise holder of the Shacman Nigeria, said the Dangote/Shacman truck deal had benefited the people in the area immensely through job creation and training of young school leavers.
He said: “This has been of tremendous benefit for the people in the Southeast. For more than seven years, this place was shut down. There was no activity until Shacman came and we made an agreement with the Shacman Group and we started skeletally. We were only able to start full production of trucks when we offered logistics solutions to the Dangote Group. That was in 2016 when we started the first agreement for 500 trucks.
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“With this, many workers of ANAMMCO who had been at home had to come back to work; some local suppliers of lubricants, electrolyte and the rest had to return to business.
“It goes further than that because we are in Enugu, we use the Onne port to bring in vehicle components. From 2016, the Onne port has handled more than 3,000 containers of truck components for the ANAMMCO plant. This is courtesy of Dangote Group’s patronage of Shacman trucks being assembled at the Enugu plant.”
Nneji noted that the resuscitation of the ANAMMCO plant was made possible through the establishment of the auto policy which encouraged local production of automobiles
He said: “The Dangote Group has kept the automobile industry working because we have always approached the company with the request to supply our trucks, which are not only strong and durable but representing a major automaker in the Southeast.
“According to the NADDC, Enugu and Nnewi have been designated the automotive centre for the South-East. This is because of the long stay of ANAMMCO and its high technical capacity.”
Dangote Group Corporate Communications General Manager Mr Sunday Esan, said Dangote was satisfied with the quality of Shacman trucks and assured of continued patronage.
“Dangote Group is expanding. Apart from the cement, sugar and salt factories, among others, we’re starting a petroleum refinery, the biggest in Africa. All these will require a high number of trucks. It is a long-term relationship,” he said.
Yetunde Adegoke
