The Federal Government has announced that it will allocate up to five per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product each year to industrial development financing, aiming to significantly boost the manufacturing sector’s share of the economy.
This initiative is outlined in the newly launched Nigeria Industrial Plan, unveiled in Abuja by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
The plan targets manufacturing to contribute 15 per cent of GDP by 2030 and 25 per cent by 2035, while the mining sector is expected to grow to eight per cent by 2030 and 10 per cent by 2035.
The policy brings together fiscal, monetary, export, and industrial strategies into a unified national framework designed to boost large-scale production, enhance export competitiveness, and create jobs.
A central element of the plan is robust financing.
The government announced it will recapitalise the Bank of Industry to N3 trillion by 2026 and expand sector-specific intervention funds, mostly managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, to provide increased long-term capital to priority sectors.
The framework, however, did not outline specific funding sources or its financial structure.
The government identified metals and solid minerals, oil and gas, construction, and manufacturing as the four sectors for immediate focus. Minister of State for Industry, John Enoh, called the policy a decisive realignment of national priorities.
It also established a consolidated incentive framework consistent with the Nigeria Tax Act 2025.
The Pioneer Status Incentive has been replaced with an Economic Development Incentive, which ties tax relief to tangible outcomes like investment scale, production capacity, and employment growth in key sectors.
Additionally, the policy also launched an Interest Drawback Scheme for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, where eligible firms pay commercial interest rates upfront and receive partial refunds upon achieving set milestones, such as job creation and export growth.
Vice President Kashim Shettima emphasized that effective coordination would be key to the policy’s success.
“As we advance the work of industrialisation, we must be clear-eyed about what it demands. It requires deliberate coherence across energy, trade, infrastructure, finance, skills, and innovation. Above all, it calls for a purposeful partnership between government and the private sector, working in alignment to deliver sustainable, inclusive growth,” Shettima said.
The framework also highlights technology and sustainability, identifying automation, robotics, and digital manufacturing as core to future operations and calling for increased research and development in priority sectors.
It sets a target of 25 per cent renewable energy use in the industrial sector by 2030 and aligns industrial growth with Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan and its net-zero goal for 2060.
