Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, has hailed the Federal Government’s 2026 Fiscal Policy Measures and Tariff Amendments.

He described it as a decisive strategic pivot towards domestic production and industrialisation, but not without significant caveats.

The policy framework looks to deepen industrialisation, reduce import dependence and includes revisions to the Import Adjustment Tax (IAT) covering 192 tariff lines, selective import restrictions, tariff reductions on critical industrial inputs, excise duty adjustments and the introduction of a green tax on selected categories of imported vehicles.

Noting that a major highlight of the policy was the upward review of tariffs on a broad range of imported finished goods with combined tariff and levies ranging between 20 and 70 per cent, he said, given Nigeria’s continued reliance on imports across several consumption categories, the policy had the potential to materially reshape market dynamics.

However, he noted that while the policy supported domestic production, it presented significant adjustment challenges for import-dependent businesses, as higher tariffs on finished goods would increase the cost of goods for trading and distribution firms and working capital requirements due to higher import bills.

This, he said, was likely to result in margin compression, downward pressure on sales volumes and business model restructuring.