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By Durosimi Temitope
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has said over 70 per cent of manufacturing inputs used in the economy are imported into Nigeria.
Director General of the council, Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, who made the disclosure recently in Lagos, decried Nigeria’s manufacturing contribution to GDP which remains below 10 per cent, registering 9.62 percent in Q1 2025, and dropping from 9.8 percent it achieved in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria reports that raw material imports surged by 119 percy to N4.53 trillion (≈ US $11 billion) in the first nine months of 2024 alone.
He noted that at the same time, over 70 per cent of manufacturing inputs used in our economy are imported, according to figures released earlier this year.
He said these data points expose a structural weakness. “We export our raw materials in their crude form, import in refined quality, and surrender jobs and value offshore before we have even begun.”
He noted that the country possesses over 120 commercially viable solid minerals, vast agricultural resources, and a demographic dividend in its young population.
“It means, therefore, that what we lack is not potential, but strategic coordination, bold implementation, and technology-backed commitment.”
As the world transitions into smart, circular, and efficient production systems, Ike-Muonso empahsised that Nigeria must not lag. “Our duty is clear: integrate advanced technologies, foster resource efficiency, promote inclusive local content development, and institutionalise sustainability as a national industrial ethos.
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“At the RMRDC, Research and Demonstration Plant Complex, which is the nerve centre of national industrial reawakening. Housed at the restored Obasanjo Space Centre in Abuja, this Complex showcases more than 50 locally designed and fabricated pilot plants comprising among others, machinery for turning cassava into sorbitol, talc into pharmaceutical‑grade powder, shea into essential oils, and so much more. At the RDPC, each reverse‑engineered or painstakingly home‑built process equipment is proof that Nigeria can transform raw materials into wealth, right here. For instance, visiting delegations during the 2025 Africa Raw Materials Summit described the site not as a display of machines, but as a “statement of intent” and a “game‑changer” towards industrial self‑reliance. I encourage all of us to pay the RDPC a visit next time you are in Abuja and let us support each other.
Similarly, last month, Nigeria achieved a watershed legislative milestone aimed at channeling global capital into raw material processing technologies with the Senate formally passing the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (Establishment) Amendment Bill, 2025, mandating that no raw materials may leave our shores unless they have undergone at least 30 per cent processing or value-addition within Nigeria’s own soil. From cassava to platinum ore, this marks a turning point—from exporting raw jobs to nurturing them in our own soil. This positive development not only makes the challenge of cutting-edge technology for raw material processing both imperative and urgent but holds the ace for providing global investors with the legislative confidence they require to invest in processing technologies and domestic processing of raw materials.”
To further strengthen this emerging progress in raw material processing, he noted that the Federal Government recently granted RMRDC the authority to implement significant tax‑incentive guidelines designed to reward manufacturers and innovators using locally sourced inputs in their production processes.
“Very soon, manufacturers who research, develop and patronize local raw materials will pay significantly lower taxes than those who do not. This is now an instrumental tool for attracting private-sector investment and stimulating technology-driven manufacturing. This landmark approval transmitted by the indefatigable Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji and endorsed by the Ministry of Finance, entitles compliant firms in agro‑processing, pharmaceuticals, polymers, fabric, green tech and so on tax credits, duty reliefs, investment allowances, and excise waivers.
“This is not policy tinkering; it is fiscal affirmation that the smartest supply chain is one made, right here, from the ground up.
“In general, it is clear that to reposition Nigeria as an industrial powerhouse, we must reduce foreign raw material imports by at least 60 per cent in the next five years and significantly increase local resource utilization; incentivize value addition through technology adoption and tax support; support the emergence of industrial hubs and clusters around strategic raw material zones; deepen research–industry collaboration for tailored innovation; facilitate technology transfer, infrastructure finance, and SME integration across the manufacturing spectrum.
He said the formal approval to implement the much-anticipated guidelines for tax incentives targeted at fostering Research and Development (R&D) and the utilisation of local raw materials in Nigerian industries is more than a policy milestone.
“It is a transformative moment. A clarion call to Nigerian researchers, manufacturers, innovators, and entrepreneurs,”
The DG emphasised that the new framework will encourage companies to invest in R&D activities and reward them for using Nigerian-sourced raw materials, thereby reducing reliance on imports, strengthening the local value chain, and creating opportunities for local suppliers and producers.
