NESG: Nigeria’s high production costs threaten industrial competitiveness

The Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) warned that high production costs, unreliable electricity and inadequate logistics infrastructure are weakening the country’s industrial competitiveness. At the 32nd Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja, NESG co-facilitator Lumun Feese proposed a council within the Presidency to coordinate industrialisation policies and improve implementation of the National Industrial Policy. She said Nigeria had fallen from eighth to 14th in the African Development Bank’s Africa Industrialisation Index, while noting that the ranking methodology had changed. Participants also cited limited access to finance, skills shortages, regulatory bottlenecks, security concerns and inadequate export infrastructure.