Copying success stories of promoting local content
In a world where nations rise or fall on the back of smart policies, leadership vision, and effective market systems, Nigeria continues to lag behind despite its potential. While nations like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Brazil are making bold strides through innovation, local content development, and private-sector partnerships, Nigeria remains trapped in sluggish GDP growth, high inflation, and staggering unemployment.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update (June 2024), the country’s GDP grew by only 2.5 percent in the first half of 2024, far below the estimated population growth rate of 2.6 percent. Inflation remains persistently high at 23.8 percent as of August 2025, with food inflation even worse, hovering above 30 percent, eroding consumer purchasing power and worsening poverty levels, which now affect over 133 million Nigerians, according to the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (2023).
Yet amid these daunting figures lie success stories of what is possible when Nigeria gets it right. Sectors like telecommunications, pensions, and cement have all thrived through deliberate policy frameworks, private-sector participation, and competent regulatory oversight. These sectors offer critical lessons that must now be replicated across other segments of the economy.
Perhaps the most compelling story of success in Nigeria’s economic liberalisation journey is the telecommunications sector. Since the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) led the deregulation of the industry in the early 2000s, the telecoms sector has grown exponentially. Unlike the oil and power sectors, where the government remains a conflicted operator and regulator, telecoms allowed private players like MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile to flourish under clear regulatory oversight.
Today, the sector contributes about 15.1 percent to Nigeria’s GDP as of Q2’2025, according to the NBS. Nigeria has over 220 million mobile subscriptions, internet penetration is above 60 percent, and mobile banking has been supercharged by telecom-driven fintech solutions. More importantly, the sector continues to attract billions in foreign direct investment (FDI) and has created millions of jobs, both directly and indirectly.
Another impressive example is Nigeria’s pension industry. Before the Pensions Reform Act of 2004, the pension system was weak, riddled with mismanagement and non-payment of retirees. But with the establishment of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), the narrative changed.
As of June 2025, total pension assets under management have grown to N19.8 trillion, making Nigeria home to the second-largest pension industry in Africa, just behind South Africa. According to Dave Uduanu, CEO of Sigma Pensions, the success of the pension sector is rooted in “institutional discipline, policy clarity, and limited political interference.” These are factors largely missing from other parts of the economy.
What is more, the Federal Government has tapped into this pool as a reliable source of domestic borrowing. Nearly 65 percent of the pension fund is now invested in government securities, a double-edged sword that boosts public finance but underscores the lack of deep private investment channels in the economy.
Once a major importer of cement, Nigeria is now a net exporter, thanks to deliberate backward integration policies and the aggressive investments of local firms like Dangote Cement and BUA Cement, alongside multinationals like Lafarge Africa. The sector now contributes significantly to Nigeria’s industrial GDP and employs thousands across its value chain.
According to the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CMAN), the industry’s installed capacity now exceeds 50 million metric tonnes yearly, with about 95 percent of inputs sourced locally. The use of Nigeria’s abundant limestone, natural gas, and coal not only reduces dependence on imports but also strengthens the naira and boosts national pride.
This level of success did not happen by accident. It required incentives for local production, protection from unfair import competition, and regulatory support, a template that can be adapted to other industries such as steel, textiles, and automotive manufacturing.
The common thread across these success stories is clear – smart deregulation, policy consistency, independent regulation, and private-sector leadership. These ingredients are missing in sectors like power, agriculture, solid minerals, housing, and even education, where bureaucratic bottlenecks, corruption, and unclear policy direction continue to stifle growth.
Agriculture, for instance, still operates largely at subsistence levels. Despite multiple interventions like the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), productivity per hectare remains low, and Nigeria continues to import billions in food yearly. In the power sector, privatisation failed to deliver reliable electricity because reforms were incomplete and poorly regulated. The result is an economy that remains largely dependent on generators and diesel.
The Federal Government must now apply the lessons from telecoms, pensions, and cement to these underperforming sectors. That includes creating autonomous regulators, limiting political interference, promoting local content, and encouraging public-private partnerships.
As Nigeria faces the pressures of a global economic slowdown, it must also reconsider its economic philosophy. A government-dominated economy with stifling regulations and knee-jerk policy changes is not the way forward. Instead, deliberate investments in human capital, infrastructure, and innovation must define the next chapter of national development.
At the heart of it all is leadership. Policies, no matter how well crafted, will falter under weak, corrupt, or visionless leadership. The need for competent, accountable, and reform-minded leaders cannot be overstated. Without them, replication of sectoral successes will remain an illusion.
We therefore urge Nigeria’s policymakers, at both federal and state levels, to take a cue from what has worked and scale those strategies into other areas. The time for fragmented, politicised economic management is over.
Replicating these success stories across key sectors is not just desirable; it is essential for Nigeria’s survival and prosperity in an increasingly competitive world. The blueprint already exists. All that remains is the political will to implement it.
