Nigeria’s Manufactured Exports Stagnant At 2.94% Despite N85trn Export Surge

The president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Otunba Francis Meshioye, said Nigeria’s industrial value addition remains weak, with manufactured exports accounting for only 2.94 per cent of total exports in 2025 despite overall export growth.

Meshioye spoke on Tuesday at the 6th Adeola Odutola Lecture and Presidential Luncheon of the 54th Annual General Meeting of MAN held in Lagos.

The AGM was themed ‘Leveraging National Industrial Policy to Position Nigeria as Africa’s Industrial Hub’.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics cited by Meshioye, Nigeria’s total exports rose to N85.13 trillion in 2025, yet manufactured exports stood at only N2.50 trillion.

“This tells us something important: Nigeria is exporting more, but industrial value addition is not expanding at the pace required to transform the economy,” he said.

He noted that despite growth in overall export earnings, the share of manufactured exports has remained broadly unchanged over the past four years, underscoring dependence on primary commodity exports.

Meshioye said if Nigeria must become Africa’s industrial hub, it must build productive capacity that enables Nigerian firms to compete across Africa and globally under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

He commended President Bola Tinubu for launching the Nigeria Industrial Policy 2025 (NIP 2025), describing it as a landmark policy providing strategic opportunity to accelerate industrial development, strengthen domestic value chains, enhance productivity and attract investment.

He thanked the administration for allowing MAN to contribute to developing the policy and reaffirmed the association’s commitment to its successful implementation.

Meshioye warned that the significance of NIP 2025 depends on consistent implementation, institutional coordination and measurable outcomes.

He listed seven structural constraints confronting manufacturers: inadequacy and high cost of power, low contribution of manufacturing to exports, high cost of production inputs and logistics, weak protection against unfair trade practices, policy and regulatory uncertainty, inadequate infrastructure, and skills, technology and innovation gaps.

“These challenges are interconnected. They are compounded by cumulative cost of taxes and regulatory compliance, limited access to long-term industrial finance, weak domestic value chains and dependence on imported inputs,” he added.

He urged federal government to fast-track implementation of NIP 2025 with clear timelines, performance indicators and institutional accountability, and to empower the Industrial Revolution Working Group to coordinate reforms.

He also called for establishment of a Nigeria First Industrial Fund to provide long-term concessionary financing, review of industrial electricity pricing, accelerated provision of reliable power including dedicated industrial feeders, and strengthening of foreign exchange support for productive manufacturers.