Nigeria is the highest importer of used cars in Africa and the third-highest destination for used cars globally, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has shown.
According to the report, the United Arab Emirates is the highest importing country with 389,302 cars, followed by Mexico with 281,545 and Nigeria coming in third with 203,136 cars.
The report shows that between 2015 and 2018, 14 million light-duty vehicles (cars, SUVs and minibuses) were exported to low and middle-income countries, with more than half going to Africa.
The report titled, Used Vehicles and the Environment – A Global Overview of Used Light-Duty Vehicles: Flow, Scale and Regulation, said the European Union was the largest exporter of used vehicles during this period, accounting for 54% of the total, followed by Japan with 27% and the United States with 18%.
The study, which is the first of its kind, said the major destinations for used vehicles from the EU are West and North Africa; Japan exports mainly to Asia and East and Southern Africa while the USA market is mainly the Middle East and Central America.
It found that African countries imported the largest number of used vehicles (40 per cent) in the period studied, followed by countries in Eastern Europe (24 per cent), Asia-Pacific (15 per cent), the Middle East (12 per cent) and Latin America (nine percent).
The report shows that in Africa, more than 60 percent of vehicles added annually is through the importation of used vehicles although it varies to some extent, from zero in South Africa which has a total ban on imports to 97 percent in Kenya.
The report called for action to fill the current policy vacuum with the adoption of harmonized minimum quality standards that will ensure used vehicles contribute to cleaner, safer fleets in importing countries.
