The president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Otunba Francis Meshioye, has said Nigeria’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will only be commercially meaningful if Nigerian manufacturers can compete on cost, quality, standards and delivery.

Meshioye stated this in his welcome address at the opening ceremony of the three-day Made-in-Nigeria Exhibition, held as part of the 54th Annual General Meeting of MAN in Lagos on Monday.

The exhibition is themed: ‘Leveraging National Industrial Policy to Position Nigeria as Africa’s Industrial Hub’.

According to him, positioning Nigeria as Africa’s industrial hub requires more than expanding the volume of domestic production. It requires an operating environment that enables firms to produce competitively, deepen local value addition, develop domestic supply chains, invest in technology and access markets within Africa and beyond.

“This places industrial policy at the centre of Nigeria’s national competitiveness. Its effectiveness should be reflected in the practical conditions facing businesses, including the cost and reliability of energy, access to finance, availability of industrial inputs, logistics and regulatory predictability.”

Meshioye noted that the Made-in-Nigeria Exhibition provides a practical setting for the discussion, as the products on display demonstrate capabilities already developed by Nigerian manufacturers across food and beverages, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, plastics, engineering and household goods.

He acknowledged some improvement in sector indicators, citing National Bureau of Statistics data which showed 3.29 percent year-on-year growth in real manufacturing output in Q1 2026, and Central Bank of Nigeria data indicating capacity utilisation rose from 51.33 percent in Q1 2025 to 57.50 percent in Q2 2025.

He however warned that these gains are being eroded by high production costs, saying that “manufacturers spent approximately N1.35 trillion on alternative power in 2025 compared to N1.11 trillion in 2024, while Nigeria imported N3.53 trillion worth of raw materials in the first half of 2025, with N1.72 trillion sourced from Asia.

“Increasing local production of finished goods without strengthening domestic production of raw materials and intermediate inputs will limit the extent of local value addition.”

Meshioye called on the federal government to ensure strict implementation of Executive Orders 003 and 005 and the Nigeria First Policy, which mandate patronage of locally produced goods by Ministries, Departments and Agencies, urging that MDAs that fail to comply should be sanctioned.

He added that government must support industrial policy with implementation discipline, institutional coordination and measurable targets that reduce regulatory costs and provide consistency for long-term investment decisions.

“Market access will be commercially meaningful only where Nigerian manufacturers can compete on cost, quality, standards, reliability and delivery,” he said.

He encouraged participants to use the exhibition for commercial engagement, business linkages and investment assessment.