Nigeria’s continued export of raw materials without sufficient local processing is undermining its industrial potential, a United States-based engineering professor, Rose-Margaret Ekeng-Itua, has warned, urging the Federal Government to prioritise domestic manufacturing through targeted tax incentives and investment in advanced technology.
She argued that the country must move from exporting primary commodities to producing finished goods if it hopes to expand employment, strengthen its productive capacity and compete in the global economy.
Ekeng-Itua, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the African Technology and Innovation Institute (ATII), made the call in Calabar on Tuesday after participating in a panel discussion on bridging the skills gap in smart and additive manufacturing at the 54th Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
She said Nigeria’s economic ambitions would remain constrained if the country continued to depend on imported finished products while allowing valuable raw materials to leave its shores without adequate value addition.
“A country that only consumes can never be an economic world power. We cannot just be consumers, we must be producers, we must be manufacturers and we must adopt Industry 4.0 because the rest of the world has already done so,” she said.
The professor proposed tax breaks for companies that manufacture goods locally, with additional incentives for businesses that also source their raw materials within Nigeria.
“If it is made in Nigeria, give them tax breaks. If it is made in Nigeria and sourced locally, give additional tax breaks. That is how we encourage production,” she said.
She maintained that stronger incentives for local production could encourage industrial investment, expand domestic supply chains and create opportunities for Nigerian businesses to process agricultural commodities into higher-value products.
Ekeng-Itua identified cassava, cocoa and oil palm as major opportunities for Cross River State to develop agro-manufacturing industries, noting that local processing could generate employment while increasing the commercial value of the state’s agricultural resources.
She disclosed that her laboratory had developed edible and biodegradable plastics from cassava flour, demonstrating how agricultural produce could serve as industrial inputs beyond conventional food markets.
According to her, such innovations could support local manufacturing, create new business opportunities and help reduce environmental pollution associated with conventional plastics.
However, she stressed that industrial transformation would require more than access to raw materials, calling for deliberate investment in the technical skills needed to operate modern production systems.
She identified robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and the Industrial Internet of Things as critical components of smart manufacturing, urging the government to equip young Nigerians with relevant competencies.
Citing projections by the African Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation, she said Sub-Saharan Africa could generate about 260 million digital jobs by 2030, making technical education and workforce development increasingly important.
“There will be, by 2030, up to 260 million jobs, and they will be all digital jobs. It is important that we train and educate the next generation to fill that skills gap,” she said.
Ekeng-Itua also called for stronger cooperation among government, industry and academic institutions to translate research into commercially viable products and industrial applications.
She said ATII was established to bridge the gap through technology innovation, research and capacity-building initiatives.
The professor, recognised as the first Black woman globally to earn a PhD in Cybernetics, maintained that Nigeria’s ability to derive greater economic benefits from its natural resources would depend on its willingness to invest in local processing, modern manufacturing and a workforce equipped for emerging technologies.
