The Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said that Nigeria’s manufacturing sector which contributed 8.64 percent to the country’s GDP in 2024, is one of the most predisposed sectors of the economy when it comes to trade policy shifts.
The Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, who made the remark following the imposition of a 14 percent tariff on Nigerian exports by the United States, noted that the policy significantly undermines the competitiveness of locally manufactured goods in the U.S. market.
Ajayi-Kadir said in 2024, bilateral trade between Nigeria and the US stood at N9.59 trillion, representing 6.9 percent of Nigeria’s total trade volume.
“Of this, Nigerian exports to the U.S. amounted to N5.52 trillion, while imports from the U.S. stood at N4.07 trillion,” he said.
He however lamented that the new tariff regime directly threatens this trade dynamic, particularly in a year when Nigeria is projecting a N55 trillion budget and facing the downward trend in global crude oil prices which has already fallen below the government’s benchmark of $75 per barrel.
