The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has warned against the use of legislative trade restrictions to compel domestic value addition in Nigeria.
It cautions that such measures could be counterproductive without sufficient processing capacity and supportive economic fundamentals.
The warning was contained in a statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, where the policy think tank argued that sustainable industrialisation cannot be achieved through compulsion alone.
According to the organisation, Nigeria’s value-addition drive must be anchored on competitiveness, sequencing, and market realities, rather than rigid controls that could distort prices and weaken both producers and processors across the value chain.
CPPE said durable domestic value addition must begin with competitiveness rather than coercion, stressing that Nigeria first needs to deliberately build adequate processing capacity through coordinated public- and private-sector investments.
The organisation maintained that forcing value addition without first expanding installed capacity and improving utilisation rates could distort markets and undermine industrial efficiency.
In 2025, President Bola Tinubu announced that the Federal Government will bar all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) from procuring foreign goods and services where local alternatives exist.
Nigeria has long pursued policies aimed at promoting domestic value addition, particularly in agriculture and solid minerals, as part of broader industrialisation and import-substitution efforts.
However, CPPE noted that these approaches have repeatedly failed to deliver sustainable industrial growth, largely because underlying structural and cost-related challenges were left unresolved.
The think tank identified Nigeria’s long-standing structural cost constraints as the most significant barriers to competitive processing and value addition.
According to CPPE, unless these constraints are addressed decisively, trade restrictions risk undermining efficiency while failing to deliver meaningful industrial growth.
CPPE warned that poorly designed value-addition policies could harm primary producers, particularly farmers and rural communities, whose livelihoods depend on receiving fair, market-aligned prices for their output.
The organisation argued that industrial development strategies should not depend on depressing farm incomes in order to subsidise processors, as this could weaken the supply base and worsen rural poverty.
It added that a competitiveness-led framework would promote shared prosperity across the value chain, rather than redistributing income through distortionary controls.
Stakeholders have earlier thrown their weight behind President Tinubu’s “Nigeria First Policy,” describing it as a “bold, forward-thinking move” that could accelerate Nigeria’s industrial revolution.
They viewed the policy as the start of a new era focused on enterprise, self-reliance, and national pride, driven by strong public sector leadership.
They viewed the policy as the start of a new era focused on enterprise, self-reliance, and national pride, driven by strong public sector leadership.