Old cars shipped from Norway - sold more expensive in Nigeria

Seven years ago, Assignment Review revealed an organized black car trade. Private individuals bought quantities of old vehicles and sent them to African countries where they were sold much more expensive. Illegal exports of thousands of cars that sold millions of kronor.

Now Norwegian NRK can tell you about a similar system. On a street in Lagos, Nigeria, are several old minibuses, with a Norwegian company name printed on: Roofing and sheet metal work. It has an explanation. The company in Norway has sold seven of its cars.

The buyers came from Hungary, but the cars were never re-registered to the new owners.

- When people do not register change of ownership and do as they should, I guess owls in the moss, says Tone Skofteby at Roofing and Sheet Metal Works.

The cars were sold in Norway for between SEK 8,000-15,000. NRK now finds several of them in Lagos, Nigeria. Here the price is higher - one of the cars is sold for 55,000 Norwegian kroner.

A minibus, which is not owned by roofing and sheet metal works, was sold for SEK 10,000 in Norway, but in Lagos it is for sale for almost five times as much: SEK 48,000.

NRK has contacted several of the owners of cars that they track from Norway to Africa. One of them, according to the Norwegian car inspection, owned 194 cars. He doesn't want to be interviewed but says he only exported a few cars to help friends. He refuses to have earned much money from it.

Another person says he only sent a couple of cars as services to friends.

14,000 cars have been shipped from Norway to Nigeria in the last ten years. The Norwegian Customs Service is responsible for controlling the cars leaving the country - but the staff has difficulty catching up, says section head Valborg Bishop. Last year, only 47 were checked.

In order for a car to leave the port, it must be in good working order.

- Either it is approved according to EU standard and then it can be shipped out or it is not, and then get some problems. Then a permit is required, says Valborg Bishop.

But the Norwegian Environment Directorate, which is responsible for waste management and export of used cars, does not see this as clearly.

- We know that many vehicles that are not EU approved with simple means can be repaired and given long life. We have to assess whether it can be repaired and can be seen as a product - or if it is scrap and waste, says Bjørn Bjørnstad who works at the authority.