Nigeria’s Manufacturing Sector Remains in a Low‑Growth Equilibrium, CPPE Reports

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Centre for the Promotion of Democracy (CPPE) has stated that Nigeria’s 26 years of democratic governance have left the country’s manufacturing sector largely confined to a low‑growth equilibrium.

In a press statement titled “Manufacturing Under Democracy: A Story of Resilience Amid Structural Adversity,” the CPPE described the sector’s trajectory as moving “from industrial promise to industrial erosion.”

The statement highlighted the significant decline—and in some cases disappearance—of key manufacturing industries such as petroleum refineries, tyre production, textiles, and battery manufacturing over the past 26 years.

According to CPPE Chief Executive Officer Dr. Muda Yusuf, “Nigeria’s democratic journey has delivered only modest industrial outcomes, leaving the economy heavily dependent on primary commodities and imports.”

Yusuf noted that the manufacturing sector’s share of GDP has remained between 9.0 % and 10 % for most of this period, underscoring the lack of a decisive industrial transformation despite repeated policy announcements and reform efforts.

He added: “One of the defining features of the democratic era has been the progressive erosion of industrial capacity across several sectors.”

“The collapse of the nation’s public refineries remains perhaps the most striking example. What should have been strategic industrial assets became victims of poor governance, policy failures, weak accountability and entrenched rent‑seeking. Over time, the refineries deteriorated into symbols of institutional dysfunction, culminating in their complete shutdown and the loss of a critical pillar of industrialisation.”

He continued: “The story is similar across several manufacturing subsectors. Textile mills that once employed hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have largely disappeared. The tyre industry collapsed. Battery manufacturing faded. Automobile assembly plants lost momentum. Many industrial clusters that once drove economic activity have either contracted significantly or vanished altogether. The consequence has been a gradual weakening of Nigeria’s industrial base and a growing dependence on imports for products that were once manufactured domestically.”