Nigerian investors urged to back local manufacturing
The raw materials council sees huge potential in back linking production. This is becoming even more imperative with the devaluation of the naira and difficulties associated with importing raw materials.
Nigeria’s manufacturing sector is standing at a critical crossroads. Despite the country’s wealth of untapped natural resources, over three-quarters of its industrial inputs are still imported – and most of its manufacturing firms are owned by foreigners. The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) says it is time to flip the script.
Speaking at the 2025 Nigeria Manufacturing and Equipment/Nigerian Raw Materials (NME/NIRAM) Expo, the RMRDC made a passionate case for embracing resource-based domestic manufacturing. Representing the Council’s Agricultural and Agro-Allied Raw Materials Department, Dr. Sab C. Ebiriekwe told participants that Nigeria’s overreliance on imports has left the nation’s industrial base fragile and vulnerable. He was joined by Dr. Moses Omojola, Managing Director of Jola Global Industries Limited and a former RMRDC director, who shared his personal journey from policymaker to manufacturer.
A wealth of resources, a poverty of utilisation
Ebiriekwe’s presentation, titled: Harnessing Local Resources: Enhancing value addition through innovation in raw material sourcing, painted a stark picture: only 35 percent of local manufacturers have steady access to Nigerian raw materials, and just five percent of research outputs ever make it to commercialisation. In 2023 alone, Nigeria spent ₦2.41 trillion on imported industrial raw materials.
No country industrialises sustainably without transforming its own resources through innovation. Nigeria’s failure to beneficiate, that is, to process and upgrade its raw materials locally, is holding back economic diversification, job creation, and export competitiveness, said Ebiriekwe.
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A personal testament to local industry
For Dr. Omojola, the challenge is not theoretical. After 25 years at RMRDC and a career in academia, he decided to prove that manufacturing in Nigeria is not only possible but profitable. It would have been a disservice to leave RMRDC without taking home one project, he told attendees. Today, he runs a vegetable oil manufacturing plant in Ekiti State, and says his locally produced oil is so competitively priced that imports from Indonesia and Malaysia cannot compete.
Omojola sees foreign interest in Nigerian manufacturing as a sign of opportunity. When I ask my Asian friends why they are here, they say, ‘Nigeria is good.’ Now that I’m in manufacturing, I know it’s true, he said. He also called on Nigerian politicians to channel their wealth into manufacturing ventures that could create jobs and grow the economy.
Innovation waiting to be scaled
Other industry voices at the Expo stressed that innovation is not the problem; scaling it is. AfricanFarmer Mogaji, founder of the AfricanFarmer Discovery Hub, cited past examples like Oluwa Glass in Ondo State using chemicals extracted from waterleaf to coat mugs, and cashew nut shells being turned into brake pads in Ibadan. These were brilliant ideas that never moved beyond the pilot stage,” he said, suggesting that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could revisit and revive such breakthroughs.
Mogaji also urged retired military officers to follow Malaysia’s example, where ex-generals invested heavily in manufacturing and helped drive industrial transformation.
Barriers holding back Nigerian manufacturers
Several speakers pointed to policy gaps as a major stumbling block. Spectra Industries Limited’s Managing Director, Duro Kuteyi, argued that without protective measures similar to those in India, Nigerian SMEs would continue to struggle against multinational corporations with deeper pockets and aggressive market tactics.
Kuteyi said his company uses local cocoa powder and soya for health-focused products, but faces a playing field tilted in favour of foreign giants. He recounted how one multinational tried to drive his products out of the market by offering free generators to retailers who stopped stocking them.
FACCO West Africa’s Managing Director, Femi Adelayo, echoed the need for robust government support, calling for wealthy Nigerians to invest in industries rather than luxury properties abroad. He also appealed to the RMRDC for help in sourcing alternatives to maize and soya in livestock feed production, noting that both inputs remain a costly bottleneck.
Across the board, the message was clear: Nigeria can no longer afford to be a warehouse for foreign-made goods while sitting on vast untapped resources. Closing the gap between research and commercial production, investing in local industries, and implementing strong protective policies could redefine the nation’s manufacturing landscape.
If the RMRDC’s call is answered, Nigeria’s future factories could be powered not by imports, but by its own rich and underused raw materials, creating jobs, building resilience, and finally breaking the cycle of industrial dependency.
