25-Year-Old Nigerian Inventor Releases First Nigerian Made Fiber Sports Car

The untamed technological ambitions of the young creatives and inventors all across Africa is an attestation of a generation that is hungry to deliver cutting-edge technology to the continent. They brave heavy odds stacked against them to come up with products that are game-changing. 

What these young inventors need are proper business mechanisms and adequate financial resources to spur the growth of their visions and dreams as far as this technology is concerned. 

A 25-year-old Nigerian man, Jerry Mallo, unveiled the first Nigerian-made fiber sports car. He is also a fabrication engineer and Chief Executive Officer of Bennie Technologies LTD. Bennie Purrie is the name of the carbon fiber car and it was unveiled on Thursday at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.

In his execution of these dreams and ambitions, he has an underlying conviction that Africa is a ripe market for luxury sports cars. 

Mallo said, "Africa is a good market for luxury vehicles. I got that exposure when I was in the UK in Europe, we learned that making the car is just half of the challenge, and selling it is the other half. Africa is usually is the target place to sell these vehicles, so I feel there’s a big market for it here."

He further went on, "We have a lot of hand skilled individuals in Nigeria and they are lying wasted if you would allow me to say it, it is like the theoretical aspect is what is valued more and I am poor at the theoretical so I saw it as a challenge why don’t I do something practically-inclined and will also be platform for others to put their mind and we’ll make a living out of it."

He was speaking on the imperative need to realign the theoretical side with the practical side in order to produce students with an appetite for innovation.  He also intimated that he developed his passion for cars when he was at age 5.

For him, the inspiration to make such a car is mainly steered by the availability of resources needed not only in Nigeria but across the whole of Africa. 

The car is made with fibers that have characteristics of glass totally different from the normal cars in Nigeria made with aluminum. When the car crashes, victims do not get crushed since the car would break into pieces and the victims are protected with airbags. The car is equipped with 4 radiators in sync with Nigeria's temperatures and rugged terrain. 

However, the car is not yet ready for commercialization. Mallo said that it is not yet up for purchase as it is more like a research project at this phase. Commercialisation is a target they want to get at in the next 2 years. 

Header image credit - NewsNaira