By Rukayat Moisemhe, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

As with many countries across the globe, Nigeria has had its fair share of industrial decline across several sectors of its economy.

From textiles and garments to automobile assembly, several once booming industries have struggled to maintain production in the face of many operational conditions.

They include rising costs of production, infrastructural deficits, foreign exchange volatilities and weak consumer purchasing power.

Yet, to align with President Bola Tinubu’s vision to build a one trillion dollar economy, the revival of domestic manufacturing remains critical to achieving sustainable growth.

Should this happen, the country will record creation of new jobs, reduce its dependence on imports and improve its competitiveness under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

However, the challenges beguiling Nigeria’s industrial base, particularly evident in the second quarter manufacturing performance figures cited by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) perhaps leaves a not-so-good taste in the mouth.

Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director-General, MAN, says manufacturing contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined from 9.57 per cent to 7.72 per cent in one quarter, in spite of the sector recording a 3.24 per cent year-on-year growth.

He lists the pressure confronting manufacturers to include high exchange and interest rates, high electricity tariffs, among other production challenges.

Ajayi-Kadir reveals that while oil refining grew by 43.94 per cent and cement by 12.75 per cent, textile, apparel and footwear contracted by 1.23 per cent, while motor vehicles and assembly declined by 1.02 per cent.

He adds that food, beverage and tobacco, the largest manufacturing group with a 36.58 per cent share of manufacturing GDP, grew by only 2.79 per cent.

“The figures highlight a central dilemma for Nigeria’s industrialisation drive: manufacturing output can expand while some of the sectors with the greatest capacity to generate mass employment continue to struggle,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government, armed with the knowledge of these issues, renewed its resolve to revive the country’s industrial base.

Most recently, in 2025, was the launch of the National Industrial Policy (NIP), designed to provide a long-term framework for transforming Nigeria from an import-dependent economy into a more productive, competitive and export-oriented industrial economy.

The policy places emphasis on domestic value addition, industrial clusters, infrastructure, energy, access to finance, technology, skills development and stronger linkages between different parts of the value chain.

However, the most important test of the policy is whether it can overcome a familiar Nigerian problem: the gap between policy formulation and implementation, though orders from the President has urged speedy implementation.

Other efforts, not limited to these, by government to revive some industries include National Cotton, Textile and Garment Industrial Transformation Programme (NCTG-ITP) for the entire textile value chain and ongoing discussions to facilitate the revival of the long-dormant Ajaokuta steel company.

Also, in May 2026, the Bureau of Public Procurement and the National Automotive Design and Development Council signed an agreement on implementation of ‘Nigeria First’ in the automotive sector.

This agreement will ensure that government agencies prioritise vehicles produced by local manufacturers and vehicle assembly plants operating in Nigeria.

Another way government is looking to revive Nigeria’s industrial base is via the rehabilitation of existing industrial assets.

Rather than relying entirely on new investments, the Federal Government is now exploring ways to bring existing assets such as the Kaduna textile centres and Ajaokuta Steel Company back into production.

The importance of steel to manufacturing cannot be overemphasised, as a stronger domestic steel industry will provide inputs for construction, engineering, automobile manufacturing, machinery and other industrial activities.

In spite of all these efforts, while getting factories to produce is only one part of the equation, the need for access to market is an entirely different game.

This is where the Federal Government’s Nigeria First policy becomes particularly relevant to the manufacturing revival.

The policy seeks to prioritise locally manufactured goods and services in government procurement, effectively using the purchasing power of government to stimulate domestic production.

Government procurement can therefore move from being more than a purchasing decision to an industrial policy instrument.

With all these in place, the biggest question confronting the industrial revival programme is whether policy support can ultimately make Nigerian factories competitive.

While a government directive can create demand, and its financing programme can provide capital, and an industrial park can offer infrastructure, manufacturers must still produce goods at a price and quality consumers are willing to accept.

This underscores the need for cheaper energy and lower input costs, which currently drive production costs up by more than 40 per cent.

Mrs Funlayo Bakare-Okeowo, an industrialist, asserts that if manufacturers continue to rely on expensive alternative power sources, the cost advantage of local production may quickly disappear.

Bakare-Okeowo adds  that affordable long-term financing is equally important, particularly for companies that need to modernise machinery or expand production.

She states that foreign exchange stability matters for manufacturers that still require imported machinery, components and raw materials while policy consistency matters because industrial investments are rarely recovered in a few months.

“An investor considering a textile mill, steel plant or vehicle assembly operation needs confidence that today’s incentives, tariffs, procurement rules and regulatory framework will not be abruptly reversed,” she said.

Concluding, Nigeria does not lack industrial policies.

The bridge from announcements to measurable outcomes is ultimately where the success of the country’s industrial revival will be determined.

The real measure of industrial success will be when moribund factories reopen, production capacity increases, manufacturers produce more competitively and when new jobs are created among others.