Ministry of Trade & Investment to focus on sustaining reform momentum in 2026

The Ministry of Trade, Trade & Investment revealed its 2026 outlook with the focus to sustain its reform momentum while tightening execution, with emphasis on disciplined implementation, sub-national delivery, and closer integration of trade, investment.

Other  part of the Ministry’s focus this year  is based on industrial policy to translate consolidation into sustained growth,  exports, and jobs. 

The Ministry headed by  Dr. Jumoke Oduwole in a document obtained by WESTERNPOST said its priorities for the year include: unlocking global and regional demand through trade facilitation; strengthening domestic supply of export ready goods and services; mobilising investment through policy coherence and execution and leveraging data, digital infrastructure, and strategic communications.

In unlocking global and regional demand through trade facilitation, the Ministry said it plan to deepen trade facilitation  as a primary demand-side growth lever by activating new and existing bilateral and regional trade corridors. 

“Priority will be placed on strengthening trade flows with traditional partners such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, while expanding engagement with emerging markets in the Gulf, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia, including the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, and Japan. 

“Full implementation of AfCFTA protocols will remain central to scaling intra-African trade. Services exports will be advanced as the next frontier for GDP growth, with targeted efforts to facilitate Nigerian firms’ access to global services contracts in digital, professional, and creative sectors. 

“Together, these measures are intended to stimulate external demand, expand market access, and create predictable pathways for Nigerian goods and services to secure buyers and contracts across regional and global markets.”

On strengthening domestic supply of exportready goods and services, the Ministry  revealed that demand expansion will be matched by a focus on strengthening domestic supply.

“In 2026, the Ministry will advance Industrial Policy implementation through targeted value chains, industrial clusters, Special Economic Zones, and Digital Free Zones, aligning tariff policy, domestic demand, and production capacity to support scale and competitiveness. 

“Priority sectors include agro-processing, manufacturing, solid minerals, and labour-intensive industries such as cotton, textiles, and garments,” the document disclosed. 

“In 2026, the Ministry will institutionalise investment facilitation and aftercare to reduce information asymmetries, lower transaction costs, and accelerate the movement of projects from interest to deployment. 

“This will be delivered through stronger coordination across trade, industrial, and investment policy, standardised processes across investment-facing MDAs, and sectorspecific investment playbooks that clarify regulatory pathways, incentives, and project economics,” its mobilising investment through policy coherence and execution priority highlighted.

In addition, the  Ministry with leveraging data, digital infrastructure, and strategic communications  priority said, “Delivery across all pillars will be underpinned by stronger data systems, digital infrastructure, and coordination mechanisms. 

“In 2026, the Ministry will expand digital trade and investment platforms, deploy analytics to improve monitoring and regulatory coordination, and scale electronic warehouse receipt systems to support structured trade and access to finance. National MSME, industrial, and trade datasets will be strengthened to improve planning, transparency, and accountability.

“2026 is positioned as a year of consolidation and scale. By staying the course on reform and aligning demand stimulation, domestic supply, investment execution, and delivery systems around these four pillars, the Ministry aims to support sustained growth, higher non-oil exports, stronger domestic production, and expanded job creation across the Nigerian economy.”

Commenting, the Minister, Federal Ministry for Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole in a statement said, “In 2026, we will build on this foundation with a focus on delivering results through integration. The priority is to connect global and regional demand with Nigeria’s supply capacity and the capital required to scale it. 

“This includes strengthening industrial clusters and Special Economic Zones, deepening AfCFTA implementation, and aligning investment with priority sectors and value chains.

“We will prioritise converting investment commitments into active projects, expanding export- ready production, and strengthening logistics and digital trade infrastructure to accelerate execution across priority value chains. This approach will translate opportunity into production into exports, and exports into jobs and prosperity.”

Minister of State for Industry, Federal Ministry for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Enoh in a statement said, “Our objective for industrial transformation is simply “implementation. The 2026 Outlook marks a deliberate shift from policy design to policy delivery. 

“If 2025 focused on policy architecture, 2026 is positioned as the first full year of implementation. Performance will be measured by outcomes. Accordingly, the Ministry’s industrial priorities are focused, sequenced, and execution driven. 2026 is the year Nigeria demonstrates credibly and consistently, that industrial policy delivers production, jobs, and competitiveness.”

Also, the  Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry for Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Nura Abba Rimi in a statement added that  “In 2026, we will continue to strengthen execution across the Ministry’s core responsibilities. 

“Our focus will be on further strengthening Nigeria’s industrial base and value-chain development, improving export facilitation, sustaining improvements to the investment environment, and reinforcing the ICT and operational systems that underpin effective service delivery.

“By maintaining this operational focus, we will ensure that the Ministry remains responsive, coordinated, and well-positioned to support Nigeria’s industrial growth, trade expansion, and broader economic objectives.”