Nigeria’s manufacturers gathered at the 59th Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos in mid-August 2026. The message was direct: policy stability and affordable electricity must follow output growth, or that growth will not last.

Policy stability meets rising operating costs

National Bureau of Statistics data show manufacturing expanded by approximately 3.29 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. That is nearly double the pace recorded a year earlier. Overall GDP grew at roughly 3.9 per cent in the same period, so manufacturing is closing the gap. For investors, the direction is encouraging. But industry leaders made clear that underlying cost pressures remain heavy.

MAN President Otunba Francis Meshioye set out the core constraints plainly. High energy costs, weak infrastructure, limited finance access, regulatory bottlenecks and smuggling are all eroding margins. He called on government to favour locally manufactured goods in public procurement, tighten border controls and harmonise overlapping regulations. The goal: cut compliance costs and reduce duplication that drains management time and working capital.

These priorities align with the federal drive to implement the Nigeria Tax Act 2025. That legislation aims to simplify taxation, support domestic industry and lower trade transaction costs. MAN has also pressed for clarity on new tax laws, predictable fiscal rules and settlement of outstanding foreign exchange forward obligations owed to manufacturers. As one analyst put it: Nigerian manufacturers are not asking for protectionism — they are asking for rules they can plan around.

Why does electricity reliability matter most to manufacturers?

Electricity dominated the operational debate at the AGM. Lagos power-sector officials acknowledged manufacturer complaints about billing, supply interruptions and tariff-setting. They pledged tighter oversight of licensed electricity providers and greater transparency in the state-level market. These commitments follow recent engagement between LASERC and MAN branches in Lagos aimed at stabilising industrial power supply. State and federal actors are moving on the electricity problem from multiple angles. Execution will determine whether those moves translate into lower bills on factory floors.

Lagos State officials also struck a measured note of optimism. A representative from the Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment noted that manufacturing is returning to modest growth and remains a key source of employment. The ministry highlighted programmes targeting micro, small and medium enterprises, including single-digit loan schemes designed to ease chronic financing gaps for smaller producers.

AfCFTA and the export opportunity

MAN representatives and Lagos officials repeatedly linked domestic reforms to the African Continental Free Trade Area. Their argument: coherent policy, reliable energy and improved infrastructure can turn Nigerian factories into export platforms across the continent, not just domestic suppliers. Customs digitisation projects and the tax simplification measures within the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 are among the building blocks cited for that ambition.

MAN Ikeja Branch leaders restated the daily pressures still weighing on production: foreign exchange volatility, rising energy bills, multiple taxation and logistics bottlenecks. Output is growing again. Policy reform is moving. Whether the next 12 to 24 months deliver cheaper, reliable electricity and genuinely harmonised regulation will determine how far Nigeria’s manufacturing recovery goes. Investors and executives should watch implementation of industrial policy reforms, measurable changes in power reliability for industrial clusters, and whether public procurement strategies begin to favour made-in-Nigeria goods at scale.

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