• Says the government earned N900 billion from Dangote last year
President Bola Tinubu has launched the Nigeria Industrial Policy 2025, a comprehensive economic framework aimed at ending the country’s long-standing dependence on raw material exports and repositioning the economy for domestic manufacturing and value addition.

The policy was unveiled yesterday at a ceremony in Abuja, where the President was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who described the initiative as a deliberate shift from past industrial strategies that failed to translate into measurable economic transformation.

According to the President’s remarks delivered at the event, the policy fulfils a central commitment of the administration to move Nigeria from a commodity-export model to a production-driven economy capable of generating jobs, strengthening value chains and improving global competitiveness.

He emphasised that the framework is designed as an implementable roadmap rather than an aspirational document, with a focus on rebuilding Nigeria’s industrial base and embedding job creation at the centre of economic planning.

At its core, the policy seeks to restructure how Nigeria utilises its natural and agricultural resources. For decades, the country has exported crude and primary commodities while importing finished goods at significantly higher costs, a pattern economists said drains value from the domestic economy and weakens industrial growth.

Tinubu said Nigerians earned over N900 billion from Dangote Cement in 2025, hinging the development of Nigeria on the vibrancy of the private sector.

“This is how we create jobs. The government has no business being in business; the private sector is the creator of wealth. We are widely proud of the manufacturers in this country who are here. Despite all the challenges, we are not unappreciative of your efforts,” he said.

The new policy framework prioritises sectors where Nigeria has comparative advantages, including agro-processing, textiles and garments, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, metals, light manufacturing and technology-enabled industries.

Minister of State for Industry, John Owan Enoh, cited recent developments in the shea value chain as evidence of the impact of targeted industrial measures. He noted that restrictions on the export of raw shea nuts led to a rapid expansion of domestic processing capacity, higher incomes for farmers and increased exports of processed shea products within a year.

The policy is also intended to address structural constraints that have historically undermined manufacturing, including unreliable electricity supply, weak infrastructure, limited access to financing, skills gaps and regulatory uncertainty.

Rather than treating the challenges in isolation, the framework integrates energy, logistics, finance, skills development and trade into a coordinated strategy with defined institutional responsibilities and measurable performance indicators.

Micro, small and medium enterprises are positioned as central drivers of industrial growth under the framework, reversing a history in which many small producers operated outside formal industrial planning despite forming the backbone of local production.

Beyond domestic goals, the policy aligns with Nigeria’s ambitions under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), positioning the country as a manufacturing hub for West Africa and the wider continent.

Officials said the strategy aimed to leverage Nigeria’s population size and market scale to attract investment and deepen regional supply chains.

Government officials acknowledged Nigeria’s record of ambitious but poorly executed industrial programmes and stressed that the new framework places heavy emphasis on monitoring and accountability. Clear performance targets and implementation oversight mechanisms, they said, are intended to ensure that policy commitments translate into economic outcomes.

Private sector representatives at the launch welcomed the initiative, describing it as a step toward policy clarity and macroeconomic stability, while reiterating the need for a reliable power supply and sustained protection for domestic industries.

With the rollout of the policy, the government signalled that implementation would begin immediately, framing industrialisation as a shared responsibility between government and industry.