By Izunna Nkwachukwu
Nigeria risks squandering the gains of its economic reforms and missing out on the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) unless the Federal Government moves from policy announcements to full implementation, manufacturers have warned.
Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG), Ruth Owojaiye, said the disconnect between macroeconomic reforms and the realities confronting businesses on the factory floor remained a major threat to Nigeria’s industrial competitiveness.
Owojaiye, who is also Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN), spoke on Wednesday as a panellist at the Nigeria Manufacturing & Trade Outlook 2026, themed “Competing Globally, Building Locally.”
She said although the government’s reforms were producing visible macroeconomic outcomes, their benefits were yet to sufficiently filter down to manufacturers and consumers.
“There is still a gap between the macroeconomic benefits that everybody sees and how it drills down to the person who buys the product,” she said, adding, “For the reforms to work, execution needs to be 100 per cent.”
According to her, regulatory delays, duplicated processes and unpredictable approval timelines continue to raise production costs, disrupt business planning and undermine investor confidence.
She called for greater coordination among regulatory agencies, clearer implementation guidelines and continuous engagement between government and industry to ensure that policies are tested against the realities of manufacturing operations.
Owojaiye identified electricity and logistics as two of the biggest constraints facing manufacturers, noting that their impact on production costs made them critical factors in determining Nigeria’s competitiveness.
She advocated targeted incentives for manufacturers investing in alternative energy sources, arguing that such interventions would help businesses manage energy costs while improving operational efficiency.
Beyond the immediate challenges, she said Nigeria must urgently strengthen its domestic manufacturing base if it hopes to compete effectively under AfCFTA.
She listed competitive production costs, reliable infrastructure, efficient logistics, appropriate standards and a predictable regulatory environment as essential conditions for Nigerian manufacturers seeking to penetrate African markets.
Owojaiye cited BAT Nigeria’s Ibadan factory as an example of how investment, technology and sustainability could combine to strengthen the country’s export capacity.
She said the factory currently serves as a regional manufacturing hub, exporting to 13 countries across West and Central Africa, as well as the United States.
Between 2022 and 2024, she said, the facility generated more than $300 million in export revenue.
The factory has also transitioned its operations to compressed natural gas and installed a 1.4-megawatt solar power system in 2023.
According to Owojaiye, the company is also deploying manufacturing data and utility-monitoring technologies to improve efficiency and support better operational decisions.
“Competitiveness increasingly depends on manufacturers’ ability to integrate sustainability, technology and operational efficiency into their businesses,” she said.
Owojaiye cautioned against viewing economic reforms as a contest in which one stakeholder must lose for another to gain.
“Nobody needs to lose. It has to be a win-win,” she said, urging the government to continually assess its policies based on actual implementation outcomes.
She stressed that Nigeria’s industrial transformation would not happen within one or two years but would require sustained reforms, measurable progress and stronger collaboration between government and the private sector.
For Nigeria to convert its reform agenda into broad-based economic growth, she said, attention must shift from announcing policies to ensuring that they work where production actually takes place.
Manufacturing, she added, remains fundamental to Nigeria’s ambitions for economic diversification, job creation, revenue generation and export expansion.
Without stronger policy execution, reliable infrastructure and deeper government-industry collaboration, she warned, Nigeria’s ambition to build a globally competitive manufacturing sector and fully exploit the AfCFTA market could remain unattainable.