Photo: Ei’eke / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Nigeria’s Federal Government has renewed its push for local production, saying stronger domestic industries are essential to creating jobs, raising incomes and widening prosperity.
From trade to value chains
Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, made the case at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, where he called for deeper investment in young people, small businesses, technology and public-private partnerships.
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He said Nigeria must move beyond an economy centred on buying and selling towards one that builds value chains: producing, processing and exporting more goods locally. The government’s position is that greater domestic and foreign investment can help establish industries, expand employment and improve living standards.
The remarks align with the administration’s wider industrial agenda, which places manufacturing, enterprise and job creation at the centre of its economic strategy.
Policy backing for Nigerian-made goods
The push builds on the Federal Executive Council’s Nigeria First policy, approved in May 2025, which directs federal procurement towards locally made goods and services except where an approved waiver is granted.
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The government says the approach is intended to give Nigerian producers a more dependable market, encourage companies to add value inside the country and reduce the economy’s reliance on imported finished products.
In February, President Bola Tinubu launched the Nigeria Industrial Policy 2025, describing it as a framework to rebuild industrial capacity, integrate micro, small and medium-sized enterprises into growth plans, and strengthen links between energy, infrastructure, finance, skills and innovation.
The test, however, will be delivery. Manufacturers have long faced high energy costs, weak transport links, costly credit and inconsistent policy conditions — obstacles the government itself has acknowledged in setting out the industrial policy.
Regional opportunity
Enikanolaiye also pointed to the Economic Community of West African States market, with more than 300 million consumers, as an immediate opportunity for Nigerian manufacturers. He said firms should first expand production for regional trade before competing more widely through the African Continental Free Trade Area.
For Black businesses and workers, the stakes extend beyond headline growth figures. Local processing can keep a greater share of the value from Nigeria’s agricultural produce, minerals and consumer demand within African-owned and African-based economies. It can also create skilled work across farming, logistics, manufacturing, design and digital services.
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But local-content measures will only translate into broadly shared prosperity if they are matched by reliable electricity, finance for smaller firms, effective regulation and purchasing power for households. Nigeria’s production drive therefore faces a central question: whether policy commitments can become factories operating, goods moving and decent jobs reaching communities.