Posts falsely claim Nigerian automaker is world’s first black car manufacturer

“From selling spare parts to being the world’s first black car manufacturer, Innocent Chukwuma,” reads the heading of a Facebook post published on November 15, 2024.

Shared more than 300 times, it describes how Chukwuma’s humble beginnings in selling spare vehicle parts led to his rise as a business titan.

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on December 2, 2024

The post was published by an account called Tony Charles Page, which regularly shares entertainment content with its 45,000 followers.

The claim also appeared elsewhere on Facebook posts, such as here and here. It had already surfaced in September 2021.

However, the story about Chukwuma being the first black person to own a car manufacturing plant is false.

Nigeria’s car manufacturers

The first recorded black-owned automobile manufacturer in the world was C.R. Patterson & Sons, in the United States, which produced its first vehicle in 1915 (archived here).

In Nigeria, Innoson was the first fully Nigerian-owned car manufacturing company. The CEO is Innocent Chukwuma, a businessman who started out as a motorcycle spare-parts trader.

Innoson began to produce motorcycles in 1995 and expanded to vehicle manufacturing in 2009 (archived here).

Obum Osigwe, a salesman with Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing, told AFP Fact Check that the company outsources the production of some components.

“Thousands of components are assembled to make a vehicle. While Innoson manufactures its vehicles in Nigeria, some of the components used in production are outsourced to foreign partners,” Osigwe said.

It is common practice in the automotive industry to outsource vehicle parts and then assemble them at a factory. However, some luxury car manufacturers handcraft their vehicles, making each car to the customer’s specifications (archived here).

Before Innoson started making cars in 2009, other companies had manufactured cars in Nigeria in collaboration with foreign companies.

Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) commenced production in Nigeria in March 1975 – 20 years before Innoson was founded (archived here). PAN says it relies on local businesses for 37% of its components.

Similarly, Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company Limited (ANAMMCO) was established in 1977 (archived here).

Both manufacturing facilities were born from partnerships between the Nigerian government and foreign companies.

The most recent list from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), which coordinates the privatisation of government assets in Nigeria, counted 58 car manufacturers in Nigeria in 2019 (archived here). 

AFP Fact Check has previously debunked a claim about Innoson producing futuristic vehicles here.