4 Attempts By African Countries To Make Cars

Apart from South Africa and Mauritius, no country in Sub-Saharan has an industrial sector that can compete on the world stage. There has been numerous attempts to catch-up with the rest of the world. The following are attempts by Africans to make cars mostly from scratch.

1. Nyayo cars-Kenya

In the 1980’s, former Kenya’s President, Daniel arap Moi asked the University of Nairobi to come up with a car, however slow or ugly. The engineers went to work, and the car was rolled out of the production lines a few years later. The cars produced were neither ugly nor slow. They could move at 120km/h.

With fanfare, five prototypes of the car christened Nyayo Pioneer were launched in 1990. It generated interest and catalysed the dream of a car that everyone would afford. According to the government, the objective of the car was to come up with a car that would be affordable, efficient and useful to the people of Kenya. However, things did not go as planned.

When the president started the car, it stalled and never showed signs of life. It would occur that nearly a billion shillings later, that the efforts of engineers, academics and experts from the University of Nairobi, Kenya Polytechnic, Kenya Railways and other institutions had come to nothing. Later, it would emerge that the haste with which the project was implemented and it’s mishandling had scrambled Moi’s dream.

The budget for the car’s mass production was too high- Ksh.7 billion. The car’s engine was too heavy, and the transmission system was faulty. The project had been carried out in top secret to avoid pissing off international donors who wanted all non-performing parastatals closed down.

2. Izuogu  Z-600 -Nigeria

The Izuogu Z-600 prototype was the first indigenous Nigerian car, and the first automobile of indigenous all-African technology. It was the brainchild of engineer Ezekiel Izuogu. Launched in 1997, the car caused a stir in the Nigerian media, and was touted by the then Nigerian chief of Staff General Oladipo Diya.

The prototype was equipped with a self made 1.8L four cylinder engine that got 18mpg and allowed the car to achieve a top speed of 140 km/h (86 mph). Front Wheel Drive (FWD) was chosen over Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) because a transmission tunnel, which RWD would require, would be more expensive to fabricate. 90% of the car's components were made locally.

The design of the car was very utilitarian resembling a Renault 4 with its upright stance and a front end that resembles the locally assembled Peugeot 504.

To be priced at $2000 it would have been the cheapest car in the world. Clever features like a door bell used in place of a horn ensure it achieves its low price target. Mass production was planned under Izuogu motors located in Naze, Imo state, but too many financial and political hurdles prevented the car from proceeding past the prototype stage.

In 2005 interest from other African countries arose about the Z-600 and Dr. Izuogu was invited to South Africa to give a speech on science and technology. The South African government showed keen interest in the car and wanted Izuogu to build it in South Africa.

Optimism surrounded the car until March 11, 2006, when armed robbers raided the factory of Izuogu Motors taking with them the moulds for the engine blocks and crank shaft, mudguards and other components. This was a big setback for the project. Since then not much is known on the status of the car.

3. Kiira EV-Uganda

Young engineers at Uganda's Makerere University have made an electric car. In 2011, the College of Engineering Design, Art and Technology at Makerere conducted a 4km test-drive on its Kiira EV, a two-seater vehicle that runs on rechargeable lithium batteries instead of petrol. Its makers say that in motorway conditions, the Kiira EV can attain a speed of 100km/h and cover 80km (50 miles) before it needs recharging.

Although the technology has been around for decades, it was the first time anyone in Uganda was able to part-assemble and part-manufacture a purely electric car, conspicuously green in colour to symbolise its environmental credentials.

However, despite this achievement emanating from one of the world's poorest countries questions have been raised about priorities, viability and the possibility of prestige projects that have little impact on the lives of the majority.

The deputy vice-chancellor of the university, said the idea for Kiira EV came out of Makerere's participation in the Vehicle Design Summit, an inter-university initiative to build the car of the future. Led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the summit culminated with the building, in 2008, of the prototype Vision 200, a hybrid fuel-electricity car, in Turin, Italy. The performance of the Ugandan students [at the summit] was good, so they announced that they would build their own car.

The deputy vice-chancellor admitted that "standard components" like the headlights, wheel, motor and batteries were imported, but, he explained, the chassis was designed and produced locally, as were other parts, such as the firmware, which controls the computerised vehicle's operations.

Early in 2014, the Kiira team had decided to produce the car in three versions: EV (full Electric Vehicle) for enthusiasts, Internal Combustion Engine (ICE or normal fuel engine), as well as hybrid (combining both fuel and electric systems). The final product will be a four-door vehicle with a two-door version as an option. Factoring in all possible delays, the first cars will roll off the plant in 2018, and the factory will have the capacity to produce all variants of the Kiira EV.

The plan is to produce the ICE in three engine size versions, ranging from 1,500cc to 1,800cc. The ICE will be sold at approximately $20,000 (UShs 50m), while the EV is to cost $30,000 and the Hybrid $40,000. These prices are based on the average cost of a brand new Toyota Corolla imported from Japan.

4. Saroukh el-Jamahiriya- Libya

The late Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi ‘invented’ a sleek James Bond-style car, which Libya said was the safest vehicle on earth. The car was unveiled on the 30th anniversary of the revolution which propelled the Libyan leader to power. The “Libyan Rocket”, as the prototype was called, was described as an “elegant sedan” 17 feet long, more than six feet wide, with a 3-liter, V-6 gasoline engine. It’s a five-passenger saloon in a metallic Libyan revolutionary green with tinted windows.

It also had airbags, an unspecified ‘electronic defense system’, and a collapsible bumper. The car could go hundreds of miles on a flat tire, a feature that could come in handy while driving in the vast Libyan Desert. Other safety features included a device to cut off the fuel supply to avoid a fire in case of accident.

10 years after the first prototype was announced, the car was unveiled in Tripoli at the end of an African Union summit in 2009. Construction of the car was supposed to have started in October 2009, in Tripoli.