More Chinese EV makers are launching flagship models and setting up manufacturing plants in key African markets

China is redirecting its electric vehicle (EV) strategy in the face of mounting tariffs from the US and EU, gradually pivoting from these established export markets towards emerging ones such as Africa.

The Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, revealed plans earlier this month for EV and battery plants in the West African country. This is expected to boost local industrialization as well as help Nigeria to capitalize on its rich deposits of lithium, a critical material for EV batteries and other electronics.

Chinese firms mining lithium in the country were seeking full-cycle local manufacturing, Yu told Dele Alake, Nigeria’s solid minerals development minister, in the capital Abuja on May 15.

Alake welcomed Beijing’s moves, citing Nigeria’s new focus on local value addition in leveraging natural resources, especially lithium, by encouraging local processing and EV manufacturing.

This drive is clear in Nasarawa state, a solid minerals hub in Nigeria’s north-central region that has attracted huge Chinese investment in the mining and processing of lithium. Chinese firm Avatar New Energy Materials launched Nigeria’s largest lithium processing plant in Nasarawa last May, with annual revenue estimated at US$500 million.

Observers say higher American and European Union tariffs on Chinese EVs and new energy technology are forcing a strategic shift towards Africa. This shift is evidenced by more Chinese EV makers launching flagship models and setting up manufacturing plants in key African markets such as Morocco, Algeria and Egypt.

Walt Madeira, principal analyst for Europe, the Middle East and Africa vehicle forecasting at S&P Global Mobility, said that with the United States and EU largely shutting their doors to many Chinese EVs, Africa and South America were likely to open theirs.

Source: msn