…soft launches National Industrial Policy
The federal government has stated that, through the new National Industrial Policy (NIP), they aim to raise the manufacturing sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) up to 20–25 percent by 2030.
This was stated during the soft-launch of the NIP by John Owan Enoh, Minister of State for Industry at the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Macroeconomic outlook event in Lagos titled, ‘Consolidating Economic Stabilisation Gains: Pathway to Sustainable Growth in Nigeria.’
Enoh said that the policy is aimed at creating jobs, reducing import dependence, and improving competitiveness across sectors such as petrochemicals, automotive, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and minerals, adding that with commitment, will, and leadership, it’s possible to achieve.
Nigeria’s manufacturing sector recorded a stronger year-on-year performance in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 as it grew by 1.25 percent compared to 0.8 percent in the same period of 2024.
However, infrastructure gaps, particularly power and logistics, port inefficiencies, and supply chain continue to constrain the sector’s growth.
The minister said that for several years Nigeria has had trade and investment policies, but lacked a formal industrial framework, which led to the development of the NIP, approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and addressing long-standing gaps.
He also noted that next month, there will be a formal launch of the National Industrial Policy (NIP) with President Tinubu present, saying, “At some point next month, what we plan to do is to have a formal launch of our industrial policy, to unveil an implementation framework and strategy.”
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Unlike previous policies, Enoh said the NIP will be launched alongside a detailed implementation framework, with performance benchmarks, timelines, inter-ministerial coordination, and public reporting to rebuild trust amid widespread fatigue with unimplemented government policies.
“The key differences are execution-led design, clear sequencing of results, assigned institutional ownership, performance benchmarks and timelines,” he said, adding that trade, investment, finance, energy, skills, infrastructure and regulation are synchronised to end policy silos.
Enoh further said that the NIP is built around six pillars, including competitive industrial production, value-chain deepening and import substitution, MSME transition into industry, skills and technology development, trade competitiveness under AfCFTA, and stronger regulatory and data coordination.
He stressed that the policy prioritises local value addition, mandatory thresholds for processing raw materials, and deeper integration of Nigerian enterprises into industrial value chains, warning that Nigeria must avoid becoming a dumping ground under AfCFTA.
“We can have in-country capacity that can process these raw materials. The Raw Materials Research and Development Council has a bill in the National Assembly that speaks to 30 percent value addition.
“Corporations and bodies who operate in our country are more interested in exporting our raw materials, so they get processed and they bring them back to us. We’re not going to allow ourselves to become a dumping ground for other countries,” Enoh said.
