Access Bank Plc has partnered leading automobile distributors to launch AutoFest, a vehicle financing initiative designed to make car ownership more affordable for Nigerians, deepen financial inclusion and stimulate growth across the country's automotive value chain.

The initiative, unveiled in Lagos in collaboration with CFAO Mobility, CIG Motors, Elizade Motors, Kewalram Chanrai Group, Mikano Motors and Stallion Group, enables qualified customers to acquire brand-new and certified pre owned vehicles with a minimum equity contribution of 10 per cent and financing of up to 90 per cent of a vehicle's value through a fully digital application process.

Speaking at the launch, Executive Director, Corporate and Investment Banking, Access Bank Plc, Iyabo Soji Okunsanya, said the initiative was developed to remove one of the biggest barriers to vehicle ownership in Nigeria high upfront costs.

"For too long, vehicle ownership has been held back by one barrier high upfront costs. Families need reliable mobility, entrepreneurs need productive assets and businesses need to expand. Yet affordable financing has remained difficult to access," she said.

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Also speaking, the Group Head, Mobility Business, Access Bank, Ishmael Nwokocha, said AutoFest was designed to solve structural challenges in Nigeria's automotive industry, including ageing inventories, financing bottlenecks and limited access to affordable vehicle ownership.

He explained that the bank is working with automobile manufacturers, dealers and government agencies to simplify vehicle documentation, registration and licensing while creating an integrated ecosystem that benefits customers and dealers alike. Speaking on behalf of Mikano Motors, the company's Marketing Manager, Giselle Bejjani, said the partnership followed months of collaboration aimed at addressing one of the biggest concerns of prospective buyers affordable financing.