Stakeholders have called for a coordinated national response built around productivity, industrialisation, competitiveness, trade facilitation, local value addition, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), free trade zone development, export expansion and responsible foreign investment to make Nigeria more productive and competitive globally.

They made the call following recent developments at major Nigerian trading centres, particularly the reported September 15, 2026 protest by traders at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex over the alleged increasing participation of Chinese businesses in direct retail and domestic distribution.

The stakeholders said the development should not be viewed merely as another market dispute, but as a strategic warning about the changing architecture of international commerce and competition in Nigeria.

The Head of Research at the Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC), Eugene Nweke, said the traditional business model in which foreign manufacturers produce goods, Nigerian importers bring them into the country, clearing agents process them, wholesalers distribute them and retailers sell to consumers is increasingly being challenged by integrated global supply chains.

Nweke, who is also the Managing Director of Networking Global Customs Freight & Logistics Services Limited, said foreign businesses should not be excluded from Nigeria, as the country needs foreign capital, technology, expertise, international partnerships, logistics networks, access to global markets and competition.

He said, rather, Nigeria should encourage manufacturing, employment, training, technology transfer, local supply chains and exports, noting that these are more economically transformative than an investment model based primarily on importing finished products for domestic consumption.

Nweke warned that the current debate surrounding foreign participation in Nigerian markets must not degenerate into xenophobia, ethnic confrontation or a simplistic “foreigners versus Nigerians” narrative.

He said Nigeria must ensure competitiveness by enforcing its laws, protecting legitimate enterprises, welcoming productive investment, strengthening domestic manufacturing, facilitating trade, developing export capacity, exploiting the AfCFTA, making its free trade zones productive and modernising its logistics ecosystem.

He said Nigeria must urgently transition from an economy disproportionately dependent on importation and resale to one driven by production, value addition, manufacturing, logistics, branding and exports.

The Managing Director of Harsecom Logistics Limited, Haruna Omolajomo, said weaknesses in Nigeria’s fiscal and business environment were largely responsible for the growing competitive advantage enjoyed by foreign investors.

He said foreign businesses opening direct retail outlets within Nigeria’s markets and selling directly to consumers were threatening Nigerian traders who had traditionally provided financing, warehousing and distribution services.

Omolajomo said Nigerian traders were also expected to meet their tax and other financial obligations to state and local governments despite facing competition from foreign businesses with access to cheaper financing and the ability to import and sell goods in larger volumes.

He argued that successive governments had failed over the decades to establish a business environment capable of making Nigerian manufacturers competitive.