The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said while the past year focused on policy architecture, 2026 is positioned as the first full year of implementation.
 
Presenting the ministry’s 2026 outlook, recently in Abuja, Oduwole said its industrial priorities are focused, sequenced and execution-driven, anchored on building a credible evidence base, activating demand and strengthening domestic productive capacity.
 
She expressed that although the ministry has numerous responsibilities, it would prioritise eight areas, including a national Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) census, which would replace estimates with evidence, providing the data backbone for industrial planning, targeted incentives and measurable impact.
 
Also, she said the Made-in-Nigeria national campaign would give practical expression to the Nigeria First policy, by mobilising consumer confidence, reinforcing standards, aligning procurement signals and progressively reducing import dependence.
  
She said: “Implementation will concentrate on productivity, scale, and execution across priority value chains. Also, industrial cluster development will be piloted through shared infrastructure and services to unlock efficiency and competitiveness, complemented by dedicated long-term financing frameworks that expand patient capital for women-led industrial and MSME enterprises and integrate them into priority value chains.
  
“Another priority is the transformation of the Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) sector, which will serve as a flagship execution pilot, transitioning from fragmented interventions to a coordinated, demand-anchored value chain.
 
“Furthermore, delivery will be reinforced through AI-enabled digital industrial governance, structured reviews of privatised industrial assets to ensure performance and value-chain contribution, and focused ministerial roundtables that resolve binding constraints and accelerate results.”
 
Stressing that the ministry remained committed to creating and maintaining an enabling environment, solid regulation for development and the expansion of industry, trade and investment, the minister said the government would double down on increasing non-oil exports, boost trade revenue, mobilise Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI), as well as generate more export-led jobs.
 
She added that the ministry also intended to unlock global and regional demand through enhanced trade relations and export facilitation by activating new and existing bilateral trade corridors and agreements to expand market access for Nigerian exports.
 
She further assured that the government would implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocols to increase intra-African trade flows and firm participation, as well as facilitate global services contracts for digital, professional and creative exports through a coordinated services export platform.
  
Also, she hoped that the government within the year would strengthen domestic supply of export-ready goods and services facilitation by activating all the special economic zones, digital free zones and industrial clusters to drive productivity and scale; operationalise industrial policy through targeted tariff alignment to support domestic production and competitiveness and support value chain development and processing optimisation in priority value chains, including shea and textiles.
 
“We would also build state-level export capacity through facilitation and readiness programmes prioritising value chains, preparing MSMEs for export and removing all bottlenecks.
 
“We also intend to operationalise structured trade systems for agriculture and solid minerals to improve aggregation, traceability and market access as well as accelerate creative and digital services exports by aligning demand-anchored programmes with export market opportunities,” she added.
 
The minister further expressed that the trade ministry intended to mobilise investment through a stronger investment climate, policy coherence and reduced fragmentation by aligning trade, industrial and investment policy to reduce fragmentation and improve policy coherence.
 
She explained that state-level investment facilitation would be activated, including deal rooms and pipelines to originate and close bankable investments.
 
“The ministry would modernise investment treaties and revise the NIPC Act to strengthen investor protection and regulatory clarity; deploy performance-linked investment incentives and risk-sharing instruments, including guarantees, to crowd in and retain private capital; improve investor certainty and retention through stronger aftercare, dispute resolution and regulatory impact assessments and Leverage Public Private Partnership (PPP) frameworks and DFI risk-sharing instruments to mobilise private investment into processing hubs and large-scale infrastructure projects.”