Nigeria’s continued export of raw materials and importation of finished goods is suppressing value creation, limiting employment and leaving economic growth dangerously dependent on commodity price cycles, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has said.
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The group attributed the productivity gap across agriculture, manufacturing and services to underinvestment in productive infrastructure, inefficient regulatory environments, weak institutional capacity and insufficient capital flows into priority sectors.
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It stated this in a press statement ahead of the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit, themed ‘Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity’, which will focus on Nigeria’s transition from a primary producer to a high-value industrial hub.
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In agriculture, which employs approximately 36 per cent of the labour force, productivity remains below its potential, with post-harvest losses estimated at between 30 and 40 per cent for many food commodities.

The group identified limited processing capacity, inadequate cold-chain infrastructure and restricted access to certified inputs, mechanisation and extension services as major constraints affecting the sector.
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It said investment in processing facilities, storage infrastructure, and integrated farm-to-market value chains could reduce food insecurity, create manufacturing jobs, and cut the import bill, identifying cassava, rice, cocoa, sesame, and soya as sectors with immediate high-value export potential.
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In manufacturing, NESG said the sector had experienced relative decline despite its expected role as an engine of structural transformation.
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It identified energy costs as a major constraint for manufacturers, while import competition, particularly from subsidised goods, had undermined domestic producers.
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It also identified the absence of an integrated industrial policy as a factor limiting coordinated support for manufacturers through tariff structures, local-content requirements and targeted industrial financing.
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NESG said restoring manufacturing competitiveness would require measures including special economic zones, fiscal incentives for value-added production and local-content frameworks that create market opportunities for domestic producers.
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The group said capital flows had historically gravitated towards sectors with short payback periods and high liquidity, including financial services, real estate and trading, while productive sectors requiring patient, long-term investment, including manufacturing plants, agro-processing facilities and industrial infrastructure, had been systematically underfinanced.
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It proposed development finance instruments, blended finance structures and risk-sharing mechanisms for productive-sector lending, alongside reforms to incentive structures that favour extraction over production.
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NESG also identified technology as a potential productivity multiplier, saying digital tools could raise productivity across agriculture, manufacturing, logistics and services.
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It said precision agriculture platforms, logistics technology and digital payment systems could improve production, connect producers to markets and formalise supply-chain transactions.