15 takeaways from the 3rd edition of the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing series with Jumoke Oduwole, Minister Of Industry, Trade and Investment
- The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Aig Imoukhuede Foundation to digitize the processes and operations of the Ministry and drive effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of Ministerial mandates and services.
- The Ministry is embarking on National Industrial Tours across the 6 geo-political zones, conducting on-the-ground assessments of Nigeria’s industrial landscape and gathering insights to fine-tune national industrial policies. The South West tour has been concluded, other regions will be visited as the year progresses.
- The Ministry has inaugurated the Industrial Revolution Work Group (IRWG), an elite task force comprising representatives from Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Organized Private Sector and relevant stakeholders, focused on reengineering the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan to accelerate Nigeria’s industrial transformation.
- Export reforms ongoing, including collaborations with NAFDAC on review of Packaging Label regulations (to allow multilingual labeling, boosting international market access), and with CBN on review of policies around repatriation of export proceeds.
- With formulation of new policies underway, the Ministry seeks to reconstruct the structure of Nigeria’s Trademarks and Intellectual Property regulation and registry, in conjunction with the Ministries of Justice; Art, Culture and Creative Economy, and Communications and Digital Economy.
- Awaiting final approval, Nigeria has been shortlisted to host the next International Africa Trade Fair (IATF), Africa’s biggest trade fair, in 2027. Having submitted a strong proposal, the Ministry is optimistic about winning the final bid, with the National Theatre, Lagos put forward as the venue. Hosting the IATF has the potential to create over 10,000 jobs.
- As at December 2024, over $50 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) commitments have been facilitated through President Bola Tinubu’s foreign trips since assumption of office. The Ministry is now working to track all the commitments and bring them to fruition by working to support investors and resolve all bottlenecks/challenges.
- The African Union designated Nigeria as Champion of the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade, at the 38th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government, in February 2025
- The appointment by the WTO General Council of Nigeria’s Ambassador to the WTO as the Chairperson of the Committee of Trade in Services Special Session, with effect from February 2025.
- Nigeria has secured the Hosting Right (2025) for the UAE’s premier Economic and Business Forum, Investopia – making Nigeria the first-ever African country to host the prestigious Forum.
- Progress being made on the full deployment of the National Single Window (NSW), a centralised, secure and transparent digital platform that will allow importers and exporters to submit, process, and access trade-related documentation, transforming Nigeria’s cross-border trading system and making the country globally competitive.
- Nigeria concluded its sixth WTO Trade Review in November 2024; the last Trade Review was in 2017. The Review focused on addressing concerns over import restrictions, FX policies, and trade barriers.
- In January 2025, Nigeria hosted the AfCFTA Secretary General at a Roundtable in Abuja on trade in goods and services, featuring top Nigerian FinTech innovators
- Discussions ongoing with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on establishing Nigeria’s carbon markets, unlocking sustainable financing for industrial growth.
- Ongoing collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to advance a Partnership for Industrial Acceleration, covering various areas such as Convening a National Automotive Industry Conference; Industrial Policy & Governance; Special Economic Zones (SEZs) & Industrial Clusters; etc.
