from AHMED MOOLA in Cairo, Egypt
Egypt Bureau
CAIRO, (CAJ News) – NISSAN is holding its first Ignition Awards to recognize its National Sales Companies (NSCs).
Set for the Red Sea in Somabay, Egypt, it is the first event of its kind to be held by Nissan Africa post COVID-19.
The flagship awards will be the culmination of the Nissan Africa Conference 2022.
The conference had initially been scheduled to be held in South Africa.
The decision was taken to host it in Egypt instead to leverage the company’s uniquely African footprint of being the only Original Equipment Manufacturer on the continent to have head office facilities in both Egypt and South Africa.
The business unit was created in December 2020 to maximize the opportunities that Africa has for automotive manufacturers and dealers, while giving them the chance to incubate and develop African talent.
Nissan Africa Managing Director, Mike Whitfield, said the company gave individual attention to the markets it operates in across 54 local countries.
“As the two-year lockdowns necessitated by the pandemic began to lift, we thought this was an opportune time to celebrate the people who make this company what it is,” he said.
Whitfield added, “The African Dealer of the Year award is a wonderful showcase to do just that – not just to the broader Nissan family but to the continent too.”
Africa is lauded as the last automotive frontier in the world, with the lowest global automotive ownership rate, but the fastest growing population.
The company has been buoyed by the launch of the all new built of more Nissan Navara family of pick-ups now being produced in Africa, in Ghana and South Africa.
Last year, Nissan launched the Qashqai in Egypt.
– CAJ News