Nigerian Sinotrucks Limited is betting on electric commercial vehicles to reduce logistics expenses, improve business competitiveness and support Nigeria’s energy transition, with founder and Managing Director Alfred Okugbeni arguing that cheaper transportation is critical to tackling inflation and strengthening the economy. Bennett Oghifo writes
As Nigerian businesses grapple with high energy costs, expensive haulage and persistent pressure on profit margins, Nigerian Sinotrucks Limited is positioning electric commercial vehicles as a potential solution to one of the economy’s most stubborn challenges: the cost of moving goods.
The company, which represents Chinese truck brand Sinotruk in Nigeria, has introduced Sitrak electric commercial trucks into the Nigerian market, targeting manufacturers, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies and fleet operators seeking to reduce operating expenses and improve distribution efficiency.
For Alfred Okugbeni, founder and managing director of Nigerian Sinotrucks Limited, the move goes beyond introducing another vehicle to the market. He sees electric mobility as part of a broader effort to lower the cost of doing business, improve the movement of goods and strengthen Nigeria’s industrial competitiveness.
“The need to crack this has become imperative,” Okugbeni said, referring to the high cost of transportation and its contribution to food inflation.
“One of the major ways to crack this is to bring in low-cost operating vehicles. And the electric truck fits very well into that.”
His argument is that transportation costs affect far more than the logistics companies that incur them directly. They influence the final prices consumers pay for food, manufactured products and other essential goods, making transport efficiency an important factor in the wider inflation debate.
According to Okugbeni, manufacturers and distributors are particularly well positioned to benefit from electric trucks because their operations often involve predictable delivery routes and established facilities where vehicles can be charged.
“We are looking at tackling major issues like inflation,” he said. “Transportation cost is a major cost driver for businesses.”
Lower operating costs drive the electric proposition
The economics of electric commercial vehicles will be central to their adoption in Nigeria, where fleet operators contend with expensive diesel, maintenance costs, financing constraints and difficult road conditions.
Okugbeni said the company’s experience with compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks had demonstrated that alternative energy technologies could offer meaningful operating savings.
“When we transitioned from diesel to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), our customers saved 30–35 per cent of operating cost in terms of fuelling cost,” he said.
He expects electric trucks to offer further savings, estimating that operators could achieve a 40–50 per cent reduction in costs compared with the relevant conventional operating baseline. However, the actual savings will depend on vehicle utilisation, electricity tariffs, charging arrangements, maintenance, financing and other operating conditions.
For fleet owners, the attraction is not simply the possibility of spending less on energy. It is also the potential to improve cost predictability and reduce exposure to fuel-related operational risks.
Okugbeni said fuel theft and the use of inferior fuel were among the challenges faced by conventional truck operators in Nigeria.
“There are so many other considerations. Besides the high cost of diesel transportation, the incentive for drivers to steal is high,” he said, adding that attempts to conceal fuel theft could sometimes lead to truck damage.
Electric vehicles, he argued, could help operators address some of these problems while improving their ability to plan deliveries and manage fleets.
“Because it is an electric vehicle, the mechanical chances of damage are very low. So, you can plan better, you can run and you can be able to achieve those things that you set out to achieve,” he said.
The financial case, however, will ultimately depend on whether the savings generated during operation are sufficient to offset the upfront purchase price, financing costs and charging infrastructure requirements.
FMCG distribution emerges as an early market
Rather than begin with long-distance haulage, Nigerian Sinotrucks is focusing initially on light electric trucks designed for intra-city distribution.
The company sees FMCG manufacturers as a promising customer segment because factories and distribution centres often operate around the clock, creating opportunities to charge vehicles overnight and deploy them during the day.
“Our target are the fast-moving consumer goods manufacturing people because they have excess energy through the night. So, they can easily charge up,” Okugbeni said.
The approach could be particularly attractive to companies moving products between factories, warehouses, retail outlets and urban distribution centres. Where vehicles return to a central facility each day, operators can establish charging routines around existing delivery schedules.
This model could reduce dependence on public charging infrastructure during the initial phase of adoption, although its viability will depend on the availability of sufficient power and suitable charging equipment at individual facilities.
Okugbeni said the company was also monitoring emerging investments in charging stations, including developments involving fuel retailers and other infrastructure providers.
“Charging stations are being built. But for the commercial vehicle, the trucks, it is even a lot easier because they are working with factories that have excess energy,” he said.
The company intends to expand beyond urban distribution as the market develops and charging options become more widely available.
“We are starting with the light truck, the entry-level first, because those ones are for intra-city distribution,” he said.
According to Okugbeni, the trucks can cover up to 200 kilometres in a day, making them suitable for certain urban delivery operations. The company plans to move progressively into medium-duty vehicles for regional distribution.
However, the stated daily range should not be interpreted as a verified range under every operating condition. Payload, traffic, terrain, driving behaviour, weather and auxiliary power requirements can affect electric truck performance.
For operators considering the technology, verified range under full load, charging time and payload specifications will be important in determining which routes and delivery schedules are commercially viable.
Charging infrastructure remains a critical hurdle
Despite the potential cost advantages, unreliable electricity supply and limited charging infrastructure remain major obstacles to the widespread adoption of electric commercial vehicles in Nigeria.
For operators undertaking long-distance journeys, uncertainty over charging locations could undermine the operational flexibility that diesel vehicles currently provide.
Okugbeni acknowledged the challenge but argued that companies could begin by deploying electric trucks on routes where charging can be planned around established facilities.
“Our mantra is to keep the trucks running and keep everybody happy,” he said.
He also pointed to the possibility of using company-owned charging facilities and developing partnerships as the market expands.
The company’s initial focus on manufacturers with overnight energy capacity reflects a practical attempt to reduce exposure to the limitations of the public grid. Nevertheless, businesses will need to assess the reliability of their electricity supply, the cost of charging equipment and whether backup power or dedicated energy infrastructure is necessary.
Charging speed will also influence fleet utilisation. Okugbeni said charging systems available in China could recharge a truck in approximately three to six hours, depending on the system.
“The battery charging technology has advanced a lot in China,” he said.
For Nigerian operators, the relevant question will be whether the available charging systems can support their required turnaround times and daily mileage without disrupting delivery schedules.
A multi-energy strategy for fleet operators
While promoting electric trucks, Okugbeni does not expect diesel or CNG vehicles to disappear from Nigerian commercial transport in the near term.
Instead, he believes fleet owners should adopt a combination of energy technologies based on the demands of their operations.
“For now, they are all still suited,” he said, explaining that CNG infrastructure remained insufficiently widespread to support every route with confidence
“More stations are coming up. But even at that, you must have a mix of all of these energy types.”
Under this approach, diesel vehicles would continue to provide operational flexibility where fuel availability is more dependable, while CNG vehicles could serve applications where refuelling infrastructure is accessible and the cost advantage is attractive.
Electric trucks, meanwhile, could gradually take on urban and industrial distribution assignments where daily mileage and charging arrangements are predictable.
“For a company that has a fleet, you must begin to look at your fleet and say, ‘Look, I need to have a certain percentage that I need to run regardless of whatever,’” Okugbeni said.
He added that operators should commit a proportion of their fleets to CNG to benefit from lower energy costs, while progressively introducing electric vehicles to reduce their overall energy expenditure and environmental footprint.
“That is what anybody that is forward-thinking should do,” he said.
The strategy recognises that the transition to alternative energy in commercial transport is unlikely to follow a single path. Instead, the most commercially viable mix will depend on vehicle applications, route requirements, infrastructure availability and the cost of energy
Financing and after-sales support
Beyond operating economics, the cost of acquiring electric trucks could determine how quickly businesses adopt the technology.
For small and medium-sized haulage operators, a higher upfront purchase price can be a significant barrier, even when the prospect of lower running costs is attractive.
Okugbeni said Nigerian Sinotrucks Limited had established relationships with banks and other financial institutions to improve customers’ access to vehicle financing.
“Nigerian Sinotrucks Limited has entered into partnerships with several banks and other financial institutions. And we are able to get customer finance easily, compared to before,” he said.
He added that financing partners were prepared to support prospective buyers and expressed optimism that government-backed credit guarantee arrangements could improve access to loans.
However, the availability of financing alone will not guarantee adoption. Operators will need repayment terms that align with their cash flows and sufficient confidence that the savings generated by the vehicles will cover financing obligations.
The company is also seeking to strengthen its after-sales support network, which Okugbeni described as essential to keeping vehicles operational.
“We have a training centre in our facility in Ogun State, where we train customers. Not just the technicians, we also train their drivers,” he said.
The company operates service hubs in Lagos, Kano, Benin, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Ogun State. It intends to use its pickup business to support mobile service delivery and respond more quickly to customers across the country.
“We can reach anybody, anything, anywhere in the country with our quick service solutions,” he said.
Okugbeni also said the company could establish workshops at customer premises, noting that it already operates embedded workshops for several multinational companies.
For electric truck customers, the effectiveness of this network will depend on access to specialist technicians, spare parts, battery diagnostics and clearly defined warranty and repair arrangements.
Local assembly and the industrial opportunity
Okugbeni’s ambitions extend beyond electric truck sales to the development of Nigeria’s automotive manufacturing capacity.
Nigerian Sinotrucks Limited, he said, is a Federal Government-accredited vehicle assembler and intends to expand its assembly operations when the policy environment becomes favourable.
“We tend to, when the policy environment is right, build really full assembly plants. And we begin to look at a way to develop local components to minimise importation,” he said.
The company also intends to deepen its after-sales presence and continue investing in technical training and technology transfer.
For Okugbeni, the long-term objective is to create a stronger domestic automotive value chain, reduce dependence on imported components and position Nigeria to serve markets across Africa.
He believes Nigeria should target local content of between 30 and 40 per cent in its automotive industry.
“Success for me, for the Nigerian automotive industry, is having a minimum of 30 to 40 per cent local input,” he said.
“There are so many components that we don’t need to import. If our steel industry can be revived, I am sure we can have local input that will reduce our importation bill.”
Achieving that ambition would require more than vehicle assembly. It would depend on the development of local component suppliers, reliable industrial infrastructure, investment in skills and a policy environment capable of supporting long-term manufacturing.
Okugbeni also highlighted the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), arguing that Nigeria should move quickly to establish a stronger position in regional automotive production.
“If we don’t look at it closely and be able to take advantage of it, the North African countries are going to take advantage of it,” he said, pointing to automotive assembly activities in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, as well as South Africa.
His concern is that other countries could build manufacturing capacity and use it to supply markets across the continent while Nigeria remains overly dependent on imports.
“We should be able to be the ones dominating the automotive assembly space in Africa,” he said.
Beyond the product launch
The commercial success of Sitrak electric trucks will ultimately depend on whether operators can translate the promise of lower energy costs into measurable improvements in profitability.
That will require competitive purchase prices, accessible financing, dependable charging arrangements, effective after-sales service and vehicle specifications suited to Nigerian operating conditions.
It will also require customers to assess the economics carefully, comparing total cost of ownership rather than focusing solely on the purchase price or advertised energy savings.
For Nigerian Sinotrucks Limited, however, the opportunity is larger than the market for electric vehicles alone. The company is seeking to position itself at the intersection of logistics efficiency, energy transition and domestic automotive development
Okugbeni believes that reducing the cost of transporting goods could have consequences far beyond the haulage sector.
“If we can reduce inflation, then we can reduce interest rates, and this economy can actually begin to run at a very high pace again,” he said.
While lower transport costs alone cannot resolve Nigeria’s inflation or financing challenges, more efficient distribution could help reduce some of the cost pressures facing producers and consumers.
The company’s immediate task is to demonstrate that its electric trucks can deliver reliable performance and commercially meaningful savings. Its longer-term challenge is to turn that proposition into a sustainable business while contributing to a stronger domestic automotive industry.
For Okugbeni, success will not be measured by the number of trucks sold alone, but by the extent to which Nigeria develops the capacity to manufacture more of the vehicles and components it needs.
“That is, for me, success,” he said.