The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment (FMITI) has revealed its strategic focus for 2025, stressing its commitment to accelerating economic diversification, expanding trade, and mobilising investments to foster sustainable development in Nigeria.
The ministry, through its newly outlined framework, aims to rebuild prosperity by delivering a more enabling environment supported by effective regulations, forward-thinking policies, and trade and investment expansion initiatives. These efforts are expected to drive industrial growth and generate productive employment opportunities across the country.
Jumoke Oduwole, minister of FMITI, shared this vision in the ministry’s outlook for 2025, which was made public over the weekend. She noted that FMITI is prioritising three critical areas in its strategy: economic diversification, trade revenue growth, and investment mobilisation. These areas represent the cornerstone of the ministry’s efforts to position Nigeria as a competitive player on the global stage.
“We are building an economy that attracts abundant investment from across the world, fosters industrial transformation, and facilitates trade in exports to generate productive jobs for Nigerians across the country. We have repositioned ourselves to deliver empirically verifiable policies and reforms based on transparently laid down plans, which improved FMITI’s performance significantly in the last quarter of 2024,” Oduwole stated.
To accelerate economic diversification, FMITI plans to focus on industrialization, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing, and innovation. These efforts include strengthening the implementation of the ease of doing business framework, rehabilitating and establishing public and private export processing zones, defining and communicating customer care standards, and prioritising the enactment of the Intellectual Property Protection Act.
Additionally, the ministry is working to ensure compliance with international food safety standards for exportable products and reposition the Nigeria Commodity Exchange to drive agricultural and industrial competitiveness. Promoting the integration of technology and artificial intelligence in trade and investment is also a priority, alongside efforts to enable and advance a services-led economy that will complement industrial growth.
In terms of boosting trade revenue and foreign exchange earnings, FMITI has outlined plans to revise trade and investment strategies, laws, and regulations to support an export-led economy while retaining value domestically. The ministry is also championing regional trade and investment through active participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and is set to implement digital trade protocols across Africa. Efforts to enhance market access include fostering regulatory synergy, supporting free trade zones, and entering preferential trade agreements with key countries.
Moreover, the ministry is committed to streamlining export procedures and documentation across relevant agencies, ensuring that Nigerian exports meet global compliance and standardisation requirements. These measures are designed to establish Nigeria as a major export player and enhance the country’s competitiveness in the global market.
Investment mobilisation forms the third pillar of FMITI’s strategy for 2025, with a focus on retaining domestic investors and attracting foreign direct investments. The ministry plans to establish Platinum Business Champions (PBCs) and Export Business Champions (EBCs) to promote local investment. It also aims to deepen capital markets, modernise regulatory frameworks to encourage sustainable investments and develop a centralised investment portal to monitor investment flows holistically. The establishment of sub-national one-stop investment centres is expected to simplify the investment process, while the execution and tracking of priority projects will help align investment objectives with broader national goals.
John Owan Enoh, minister of State for Industry, Trade, and Investment, expressed optimism about Nigeria’s industrial future, describing it as a defining moment in the country’s economic journey. “The promise of a robust, self-sustaining economy is within our grasp, powered by the twin engines of industrialisation and skills development. My commitment is to steer Nigeria’s industrial landscape toward global competitiveness, innovation, and sustainable growth. The future belongs to those who dare to reimagine, realign, and revitalise, and this is precisely our mission,” he stated.
The Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) remains a key initiative in FMITI’s strategic agenda. This program is designed to unlock the full potential of the automotive sector by accelerating local manufacturing and fostering world-class supply chains.
Similarly, the Special Agro-Processing Zones (SAPZ) initiative seeks to expand value addition in agriculture, positioning Nigeria as a global powerhouse in agro-industrial production. These sector-specific strategies align with the broader goals of economic transformation, focusing on leveraging Nigeria’s natural and human resources to achieve sustainable development.
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