By Chesa Chesa
Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen, Ajuri Ngelale, and Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, have toured the facilities of the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, CATL.
Ngelale and Sule were joined by the Managing Director/CEO of the Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCorp), Dr. Lazarus Angbazo, and are part of the team overseeing the execution of Nigeria’s renewable energy technology manufacturing zone, Evergreen City.
Ngelale, who is also President Tinubu’s Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, highlighted the tour to journalists on Wednesday.
He said: “Early Wednesday morning in Ningde, China, in my capacity as the Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen, I joined the team overseeing the execution of Nigeria’s renewable energy technology manufacturing zone, Evergreen City — which includes the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, H.E. Abdullahi Sule, and the Managing Director/CEO of the Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCorp), Dr. Lazarus Angbazo — on a working visit to the Global Headquarters of the world’s largest EV Battery Manufacturer, CATL.
“We began with a tour of their facilities, which provided a window into the company’s history, present, and future development plans. We were given a no-photographs-allowed tour of the automated production lines, which were an inspiring marvel to behold.
“After the tour, our team interfaced with CATL’s Executive Management and apprised them of our zone’s progress with a detailed view into what our collaboration would entail. They responded with a very diligently composed presentation of how their technologies and associated financing platforms can be tailored to the unique requirements of Evergreen City.
“The Nasarawa State Governor detailed local policy and how the partnership will be supported at the sub-national level while I communicated the vision of the zone in the context of the specific technologies being produced by CATL. InfraCorp MD, Dr. Lazarus Angbazo asked pertinent questions about their proposed concepts of collaboration. We all agreed on finite next steps.*
“We are thrilled about the opportunity to site the EV Battery Manufacturer supplying Tesla, BMW, and others within our Lithium-rich zone. But we have a lot of work to do before any of us will be celebrating.”
