The Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG), Ruth Owojaiye, has called for faster policy implementation, stronger regulatory coordination and deeper collaboration between government and industry to unlock the full potential of Nigeria’s manufacturing sector.
Owojaiye, who is also Director, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN), made the call at the Nigeria Manufacturing & Trade Outlook 2026 during a panel session titled, “Reform and Reality: Nigeria’s Manufacturing Sector at an Inflection Point.”
The event, themed, “Competing Globally, Building Locally: Nigeria’s Manufacturing Imperative,” brought together policymakers, business leaders, investors and other industry stakeholders.
Owojaiye said although economic reforms had produced some positive macroeconomic outcomes, their benefits were yet to sufficiently translate into improved consumer purchasing power and lower operating costs for manufacturers.
“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.
She urged the government to place greater emphasis on implementing policies effectively, arguing that regulatory delays, duplication and unclear guidelines could disrupt production, raise operating costs and weaken investment decisions.
“For the reforms to work, execution needs to be 100 per cent,” Owojaiye said.
She also called for stronger and more structured engagement between regulators and manufacturers, saying policymakers needed to better understand the realities businesses faced on the factory floor.
According to her, electricity and logistics should remain priority areas for government intervention because of their significant impact on manufacturing costs.
She also advocated targeted incentives for manufacturers investing in alternative energy solutions to reduce production costs and improve competitiveness.
On Nigeria’s export ambitions, Owojaiye said the country must strengthen its domestic manufacturing capacity to take full advantage of opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
She said competitive production, reliable infrastructure, efficient logistics, appropriate standards and a predictable regulatory environment were critical to enabling Nigerian products to compete effectively in African markets.
Owojaiye cited BAT Nigeria’s Ibadan factory as an example of the potential of locally based manufacturing to serve both domestic and international markets.
She said the factory currently serves as a regional manufacturing hub, exporting to 13 countries across West and Central Africa and the United States, while generating more than $300 million in export revenue between 2022 and 2024.
She added that manufacturing competitiveness increasingly depended on companies’ ability to integrate sustainability, technology, and operational efficiency into their operations.
According to her, BAT Nigeria has transitioned its manufacturing operations to compressed natural gas (CNG) and installed a 1.4MW solar system at its Ibadan factory in 2023.
She further highlighted the company’s use of manufacturing data and utility-monitoring technologies to improve operational efficiency, optimise resource utilisation and support data-driven decision-making.
Owojaiye cautioned against viewing economic reforms as a contest between winners and losers, saying that sustainable economic growth requires an ecosystem in which businesses across sectors and at different scales can thrive.
“Nobody needs to lose. It has to be a win-win,” she said.
She urged the government to continuously review reforms based on implementation outcomes, stressing that industrial transformation would require sustained and measurable progress rather than immediate results.
“It’s not a journey that we can fix in one year or two years… but we must keep moving forward in measurable steps,” she said.
Owojaiye reiterated that a strong manufacturing sector remained critical to Nigeria’s economic diversification, job creation, revenue generation and export ambitions.
