Making Progress with Nigeria Industrial Policy? - THISDAYLIVE

For the Minister of State for Industry, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, the implementation of the Nigeria Industrial Policy that was launched in February 2026 is making progress.

Enoh identified the progress so far recorded with its implementation in the following areas. One of them is the activation of the Nigeria First Policy meant to promote patronage of Nigerian manufactured goods. Enoh said that the ministry is engaging with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for accelerated patronage of Nigerian assembled automobiles and products of the Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) industries.

Another area where progress is being recorded, according to the minister of state, is enhancing access to financing for the Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through negation with the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) for $69 million industrial cluster project, which he revealed is at an advanced stage.

There is also the strengthening of the linkages within the CTG value chains. This would ensure that cotton growers are linked with the ginneries and textile manufacturers, and on the other hand that garment manufacturers are also linked with the textile manufacturers.

Progress are also being made in the area of skill acquisition and capacity development. The minister disclosed that about 700 people have been trained in mechatronics. He added that the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is running a skilled artisan program.

“So, we have been working in the strategic objectives (of the NIP and) in all of these things we have made some progress,” Enoh said.

It should be emphasised that the NIP is Nigeria’s first comprehensive industrial policy since the country’s independence in 1960. Its goal is to is increase manufacturing sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 15 per cent by 2030 and 25 per cent by 2035. Currently, manufacturing’s contribution to the GDP is less than 10 per cent.

The NIP sets out a clear and actionable roadmap for Nigeria’s industrial transformation. The policy identified priority industrial sectors, established enabling reforms, and codified incentives that would ensure that Nigeria’s industrial growth is not only accelerated but is also inclusive, competitive, and sustainable.

At the heart of this policy is a robust incentive framework, which included fiscal, monetary, export, and industrial measures that would reduce the cost of doing business, spurs investment and fosters innovations.

The framework is centred around deepening access to finance, driving sectorial competitiveness, global and regional integration as well as sustainability, innovation and inclusive delivery.

In his address during the unveiling of the NIP, Enoh, described it as a comprehensive framework that reaffirmed Nigeria’s resolve to diversify its economy, create inclusive prosperity, and secure the countrys rightful place as a leading industrial hub in Africa and the wider global economy.

Enoh said: “The NIP is more than a document; it is a statement of intent, a vision, and a covenant. It is our collective declaration that Nigeria will no longer be content with exporting raw materials while importing jobs and prosperity.

“Instead, we shall build, manufacture, and innovate here at home: creating wealth that endures, industries that compete globally, and opportunities that reach every Nigerian household.”

The direction of the industrial policy is anchored on the development of four sectors. These sectors are metals and solid minerals, oil and gas, construction and manufacturing. The NIP’s policy document said that these sectors are comprised of multiple sub-sectors that offer strategic opportunities for industrial development.

They are prioritised due to their strong comparative advantages, potential to generate large-scale employment, deepen local value addition and expand export.

The general objective of the NIP is to accelerate Nigeria’s industrial transformation by   leveraging on the country’s natural and human capital to promote inclusive, sustainable and competitive manufacturing that would deepen        economic diversification and  generate   mass employment through innovation, infrastructure        development,  investment and export.

Specifically, the six core objectives of the NIP are enhancing Nigeria’s economic       growth and development; ensuring global competitiveness of Nigerian manufactured goods in order to diversify Nigeria’s export via manufactured products; employment and skill development through gainful employment in the manufacturing sector; encouraging the development of innovative financing strategies to facilitate easy access to affordable long-term funds to manufacturers; industrialisation and local content by promoting geographical dispersal of industries, particularly in rural areas and increasing local raw material sourcing and utilisation; and encouragement of industrial processes that will promote environmental sustainability and the concept of eco-industrialisation.  The successful attainment of the policy objectives is hinged on the deployment of coherent, practical and forward-looking strategies.

The key strategic interventions designed in the NIP to stimulate industrial development, strengthen value chains and position Nigeria for sustainable industrial transformation included MSMEs and industrial entrepreneurship development by providing integrated and coordinated support such as concessional loans, industry-based skills, incubators and clusters, mainstreamed into industrial value chains to spur sustainable MSME development.

Other strategies are fostering international partnership and linkages for skills improvement, sustainable power supply, competitiveness      and  market     access, including the implementation of mandatory public procurement of made-in-Nigeria goods and services (under EO003 and the Nigeria First Policy), and nationwide consumer awareness campaigns, and retail incentives to increase domestic market share by 25 per cent over three years.

The NIP highlighted that global competition for the manufacturing sector is based on technological capabilities, which are needed to strengthen the nation’s industrial output. It said, “government will support Nigerian manufacturers’ initiatives to acquire technological capabilities through technology development, acquisition, adoption, adaptation and innovation.

“It will also support public research institutions to undertake industry relevant research as well as foster linkages between the research institutions and industry as well as promoting and encouraging private firms and individuals to carry out research and development and to adopt technology.”

The NIP stated that investment in industrial skills and innovation in Nigeria is essential for economic diversification, employment generation and wealth creation. These include investment in ICT and digital manufacturing, green skills, process and product innovation, and business model innovation. 

The NIP’s policy document stated that federal government is committed to the attainment of these industrial development objectives through the promotion of a thriving, efficient and sustainable manufacturing sector in Nigeria.

Therefore, fiscal measure incentives should seek to increase local manufacturing, reduce production costs, promote industrialisation, upscale investment in sustainable energy and economic diversification.

In addition, existing fiscal measures like tax benefits and exemption, tariff waivers and concessions are available and specially targeted at priority sub-sectors under the industrial sector and have been designed to allow substantial interest deduction related only to party loans. This is aimed at reducing costs of finance and production for businesses operating in priority sectors.

This category of incentive has been designed to enable companies to reduce the amount of corporate tax payable by claiming deductions on the cost of certain assets like equipment, industrial machines, permanent structures or buildings used in their operations during the financial year.

The federal government also provided some export centric incentives to inspire large scale domestic production for export and provide cost reduction supports to manufacturers, exporters and investors. These incentives include Export Expansion Grant (EEG), Duty Drawback Scheme, Export Processing Zones; Export Proceeds Retention (EPR) for specified period, Export Development Fund (EDF), and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to mention a few

The NIP said that government is strengthening and recapitalising the domestic Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) in collaboration with other continental and foreign DFIs to provide for long term funding needs of the industries at single digit interest rate by implementing the following strategic actions:   One, setting aside between 3.0 and 5.o per cent of annual GDP to industrial development financing; two, allocation of sector-specific credit quotas (e.g., N500 billion for agroprocessing, N300 billion for renewable energy); three, recapitalisation of the Bank of Industry (BOI) to N3 trillion by 2026, and, four, providing single digit loan for MSMEs by strengthening and scaling credit guarantee schemes (CGS) to guarantee industrial loans from commercial banks, thereby reducing the lending risk and allowing banks to offer lower interest rates.

A critical element of the policy is the enhancement of the growth of key industrial sub-sectors or product groups, capacity utilisation, as well as global competitiveness of locally produced goods and services.

The key sub-sectors for the expansion of industrial production include agro allied sub-sectors, Food, Beverages and Tobacco sub-sectors, and the Textile, Wearing Apparel and Leather Industries sub-sectors.

Others are Wood and Wood Products, Including Furniture; Paper and Paper products, Printing and Publishing; Fishery and Aquaculture Industry; Metals and Solid Minerals; Solid minerals industries; Non-metallic; Iron and steel; Oil and Gas Industrial Activities; Chemicals, and Petrochemicals; Fertilizer, Pharmaceutical products; Rubber and plastic products; Lubricant, Pigments, Gas, Ethanol and Methanol; Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Industrial Activities; Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs); Medicines, Vaccines; Syringes and needles, PPE, Glucometer, Scanners; Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) Kits, Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs); Motor vehicles and miscellaneous assembly; Electrical and electronics, including renewable energy products; ICT: assembly and manufacturing of ICT hardware; Non-manufacturing activities such as Building and construction as well as mining and quarrying.

The NIP provided for institutional strengthening for inclusive and sustainable industrial policy delivery like environmental sustainability. It said that government shall encourage the development of clean and efficient technologies, which minimises pollution and environmental degradation and maximises resource productivity and circular economy principles.

It also focuses on promotion and facilitation of renewable energy and strengthening of regulatory framework to ensure good environment practice and best available technologies as well as adapting and implementing international frameworks for Eco-Industrial Parks (such as Lekki Free Zone, Delta State’s KGG, Sharada Industrial Park, GEIPP) to support existing and planned industrial parks/SEZ to become more resource-efficient, cost effective, competitive, attractive for investment and risk resilient.

Although stakeholders in the industrial sector has hailed the NIP as the right path for Nigeria’s accelerated industrialisation, they are also concerned that adequate measures have not be taken to realise its objectives.

For instance, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has called for a legislation mandating Ministries, Departments and agencies of all tiers of government to implement the Nigeria First policy in their procurement. The association is also concerned with the worrisome high lending interest of 33 per cent in the country for the manufacturing sector amongst other challenges. 

Founded on January 22, 1995, THISDAY is published by THISDAY NEWSPAPERS LTD., 35 Creek Road Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria with offices in 36 states of Nigeria , the Federal Capital Territory and around the world. It is Nigeria’s most authoritative news media available on all platforms for the political, business, professional and diplomatic elite and broader middle classes while serving as the meeting point of new ideas, culture and technology for the aspirationals and millennials. The newspaper is a public trust dedicated to the pursuit of truth and reason covering a range of issues from breaking news to politics, business, the markets, the arts, sports and community to the crossroads of people and society.

You can email us at: hello@thisdaylive.com or visit our contact us page.