Manufacturers decry low export share despite N85.13trn

Nigeria's export sector is experiencing a paradox that should alarm policymakers and investors alike. While total trade volumes surged to N85.13 trillion in 2025, the nation's manufacturing base remains dangerously dependent on crude oil, with domestically produced goods occupying a shrinking share of export earnings. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Promotion Group (MANEG) has issued a stark warning: without urgent structural reform, Nigeria risks cementing its role as a raw-material exporter rather than a value-added manufacturer.

The scale of the manufacturing crisis is staggering. Nigeria spends approximately $6 billion annually importing clothing and textiles—categories where the nation once held regional dominance. This hemorrhaging of foreign exchange, combined with low export competitiveness in sectors like agro-processing, consumer goods, and light manufacturing, reveals an economy trapped in commodity dependency despite diversification rhetoric.

## Why Is Manufacturing Export Share So Low Despite Rising Total Trade?

The answer lies in oil's outsized influence on Nigeria's export basket. Crude petroleum accounts for roughly 90% of export revenue, masking the collapse of non-oil manufacturing sectors. Even as total exports climb nominally, the actual volume and value of manufactured goods—textiles, food products, pharmaceuticals, and metal fabrication—have contracted in real terms. The N85.13 trillion trade figure is a petrodollar illusion; strip away hydrocarbons, and Nigeria's manufacturing export base has withered.

MANEG's assessment identifies three critical bottlenecks: inadequate power infrastructure (manufacturers operate at 40-60% capacity due to energy costs), poor port logistics (shipping costs in Nigeria are 2-3x higher than regional competitors), and currency volatility that erodes profit margins. The naira's instability against the dollar—fluctuating between ₦1,400 and ₦1,600 per USD in 2024-25—makes it nearly impossible for manufacturers to price competitively on global markets.

## What Role Does Textile and Apparel Play in Nigeria's Export Failure?

Textiles exemplify the broader manufacturing collapse. Nigeria's garment sector, which employed over 1 million workers in the 1990s, now survives in fragments. The $6 billion annual import bill reflects destroyed domestic capacity: outdated spindle mills, non-functional weaving factories, and a supply chain fractured by smuggling and informal competition. Imported Chinese and South Asian textiles undercut local producers by 40-50%, while government tariff enforcement remains inconsistent.

Minister Dr. Olajumoke Oduwole's acknowledgment of "weakened domestic production, poor infrastructural backbone, and trade malpractices" is candid but insufficient without implementation. The textile crisis is not inevitable—it reflects policy failures: decades of underinvestment in manufacturing clusters, inadequate technical education, and protection schemes that shield inefficiency rather than nurture competitiveness.

## How Can Nigeria Reclaim Manufacturing Export Competitiveness?

The pathway requires four interventions: First, stabilizing the naira through Central Bank discipline (not artificial pegs). Second, rolling out megawatt-scale power infrastructure dedicated to manufacturing zones. Third, digitizing port operations to reduce clearance times from weeks to days. Fourth, enforcing strict anti-smuggling measures in textiles and apparel while incentivizing local value-addition through temporary tariff protection (5-7 years, not indefinite).

Without these structural reforms, Nigeria's export boom remains a mirage—crude revenue masking a manufacturing sector in terminal decline.