Nigeria’s manufacturing sector is on the brink—and industry leaders are making it clear: bold, urgent action is the only way out.
At the BusinessDay Manufacturing Conference in Lagos, top voices from across the sector delivered a passionate plea to the Federal Government—make the tough calls, pass the right laws, and stop paying lip service to local production. The message was clear: without decisive reforms, Nigeria’s factories will continue to fall silent.
“The ‘Nigeria First’ policy must stop being a slogan—it needs teeth,” declared Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). “Let’s make it law. Let’s punish agencies that keep ignoring local producers. Enough talk.”
Industry players painted a stark picture: sky-high production costs, weak consumer purchasing power, power outages that eat up 30% of operational budgets, and a flood of smuggled substandard goods choking out locally made products.
“Manufacturers are spending fortunes on diesel just to keep the lights on,” said George Onafowokan, CEO of Coleman Technical Industries. “Without stable power, we can’t compete globally—and we’re barely surviving locally.”
Odiri Erewa-Meggison of British American Tobacco called for consistent policy and long-term planning. “We can’t keep changing the rules overnight. Stability drives investment. Instability drives investors away.”
And it’s not just policy chaos that’s hurting the sector—many Nigerian manufacturers, experts noted, are missing opportunities that foreign investors are rushing to grab. “Outsiders see what we don’t,” said Adetunji Aderinto of Zetamind Consulting. “We must embrace innovation, tech, and data if we want to win.”
The room echoed with a call for one thing: real, enforceable change. From multiple taxation to the sudden 4% import levy rolled out earlier this year, the consensus was that manufacturers can no longer afford policy surprises.
Dr. Chinyere Almona of LCCI summed it up: “We need a Manufacturing Policy Council to bring everyone to the table—before decisions, not after the damage is done.”
And as Nigeria looks to tap into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), only 12% of SMEs even understand how to benefit, according to NACCIMA’s DG, Olusola Obadimu. He urged urgent awareness drives and people-focused economic planning at the state level.
The takeaway? If Nigeria truly wants to transition from an import-hungry economy to an industrial powerhouse, it will take more than words. It will take laws, leadership, and the political will to put Nigerian factories—and Nigerian jobs—first.
