Nigeria faces institutional and policy hurdles to industrialisation

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has reported that industrial policy alone is insufficient to achieve industrialisation in Nigeria. The group emphasized that successful economic transformation requires a coordinated architecture to address foundational constraints, such as inadequate infrastructure, limited access to finance, and insufficient human capital.

According to the NESG, industrialisation should be viewed as a mechanism for creating employment and reducing poverty rather than just expanding manufacturing. Despite decades of various industrial strategies aimed at diversifying the economy and reducing dependence on primary commodity exports, the country has struggled to achieve the structural transformation necessary for inclusive growth.

In a related discussion on governance, former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, argued that Nigeria’s development issues stem from institutional failures rather than a lack of policy. He noted that reforms often fail due to ‘isomorphic mimicry’—the practice of copying foreign institutional models without adapting them to local realities—and ‘premature load-bearing,’ where complex reforms are introduced before institutions possess the necessary maturity, funding, or skills to sustain them.