Nigeria's public procurement system is entering a new phase where government purchasing decisions can no longer be treated merely as an administrative mechanism for acquiring goods, works, and services. The Federal Government's Nigeria First Policy, approved in May 2025, prioritizes locally-made goods and services. This policy change aims to encourage self-sufficiency and sustainable growth by promoting domestic products and businesses. All Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) are expected to consider Nigerian-made goods and local companies as their primary option.
The Canton Fair, a major international sourcing platform in China, provides a valuable lesson for Nigeria. The fair connects international buyers with Chinese manufacturers and exporters, offering a matchmaking system that goes beyond displaying products. Through its Trade Bridge programme, the fair organizes targeted matchmaking between global sourcing enterprises and Chinese industrial clusters. Nigeria has participated in these sessions, covering various product categories. This experience highlights the importance of understanding demand and market research in international commerce.
Nigerian policymakers and businesses must recognize that market information itself has economic value. When Nigerian businesses travel abroad, identify products, establish supplier relationships, and build markets for those products at home, they often later compete with foreign-owned or foreign-linked businesses selling similar products more directly within Nigeria. This concern has reached the level of regional leadership, with Abia State Governor Dr. Alex Otti urging Igbo traders to change their business model and move from conventional trading to manufacturing and digital trading.
The Governor's diagnosis points to where the policy answer lies. Nigerian purchasing behavior reveals Nigerian demand, but foreign manufacturers often have far greater capacity to convert that information into production and competitive market entry. The lesson is not to blame the Canton Fair or the Chinese trader but to understand the economic power of market intelligence and ensure that Nigerians who generate it are positioned to produce, not merely to import.
China's manufacturing competitiveness is the outcome of decades of investment in infrastructure, industrial clusters, logistics, technology, skills, finance, and export capacity. Nigeria should study this achievement closely and confront the uncomfortable question: Why can a product be manufactured thousands of kilometers away, shipped to Nigeria, cleared through ports, distributed within the country, and still compete successfully with a Nigerian-made equivalent? Part of the answer lies in Nigeria's production environment, which includes expensive and unreliable energy, high financing costs, and infrastructure deficits.
Local manufacturers contend with various challenges, including logistics bottlenecks, foreign-exchange exposure, multiple taxes, and regulatory costs. The Nigeria Industrial Policy 2025, unveiled in February 2026, recognizes much of this and aims to move steadily from exporting raw materials to producing finished goods. The policy also seeks to integrate MSMEs into the heart of industrial growth and align infrastructure and energy with industrial ambition.
Public procurement must become part of Nigeria's industrial strategy. The Nigeria First Policy should not remain a slogan but become a procurement methodology that prioritizes locally-made goods and services. This transformation can help Nigerian SMEs and manufacturers grow, create employment, develop technology, expand production, and compete successfully. By adopting Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP), the government can ensure that its purchasing decisions consider the wider economic, social, and environmental consequences.
Key points
- The Nigerian government aims to prioritize locally-made goods and services through its Nigeria First Policy.
- Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) can help support local manufacturers and SMEs in Nigeria.
- Nigeria's production environment, including expensive energy and infrastructure deficits, affects the competitiveness of local manufacturers.
