The Federal Government has warned that Nigeria’s manufacturing sector is losing its competitive edge as energy costs now account for 40 to 60 per cent of total production expenses for local industries.
The Minister of State for Industry, John Owan Enoh, raised the alarm on Tuesday while speaking at the Practical Nigerian Content Forum in Yenagoa, hosted by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
Describing energy as the backbone of industrial growth, the minister said the current cost burden represents a structural weakness that hampers productivity, discourages investment, and undermines Nigeria’s ambition to become a competitive manufacturing hub.
“Gas is the fuel of our future, and power is the oxygen that keeps our industries alive,” Enoh declared. “Manufacturers in Nigeria currently spend 40–60 per cent of their production costs on energy. This is not just a challenge; it is a structural weakness that undermines competitiveness.”
In response, Eboh noted that the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) has convened a Ministerial Energy Roundtable on Industrial Energy Security, bringing together key institutions including Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Bank of Industry, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), InfraCorp, Africa Development Bank, Afreximbank and private-sector operators.
The roundtable, according to him aims to deliver dedicated industrial power corridors, reliable gas supply for factories, naira-based tariff pilots, embedded generation for industrial clusters and a unified national framework for industrial energy stability.
Enoh emphasised that Nigeria is undergoing a wider economic transition from heavy import dependence to value-added production, and from resource extraction to domestic industrial capacity.
He insisted that local content and industrialisation are “inseparable twins” and must now be embedded across all sectors, not just oil and gas.
“No nation scales local content without a strong industrial base, and no nation industrialises without a deliberate local content strategy,” he said.
He noted that this thinking underpins the National Industrial Policy (NIP) 2025–2035, a 10-year blueprint designed to strengthen local manufacturing, deepen domestic value addition, integrate energy with industry, boost exports and attract coordinated investment into priority sectors. The minister added that the policy will align with NCDMB and other regulatory bodies to avoid sectoral silos.
Enoh further highlighted the government’s Nigeria First Policy, which he described as an economic patriotism doctrine aimed at retaining value within the country. “What Nigeria can produce, Nigeria must not import,” he stressed.
Enoh called for a renewed partnership between government, industry players, financiers and innovators to drive the country’s industrial transformation.
“Government cannot industrialise Nigeria without the private sector, and the private sector cannot scale without an enabling environment,” he said.
The minister urged stakeholders to move from “plans to platforms” and from “discussion to delivery”, describing industrialisation as Nigeria’s path to economic sovereignty and long-term prosperity.
