Chris Ijeli
Nigeria’s push to triple manufacturing’s share of the financial system will stall until the nation builds extra of the engineering capability factories rely on, business operators have stated. At the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria’s 54th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos final week, the federal authorities set a goal of elevating manufacturing’s contribution to GDP to between 20 and 25 per cent by 2030. The sector’s share fell from 8.42 % in 2023 to 8.05 % in 2025.
Dorman Long Engineering Limited, which has fabricated industrial buildings and gear in Nigeria since 1949, says the goal relies upon as a lot on fabrication yards as on factories.
“We have had local content targets in this country for over two decades, and they work best where there is real capacity on the ground to meet them. If we want manufacturing at 25 percent of GDP, we need to invest in building the engineering base first, not after,” stated Chris Ijeli, Managing Director/CEO of Dorman Long Engineering.
A market served from overseas
The Nigerian Manufacturing Opportunity Report 2026, revealed by market intelligence agency SEID and launched on the AGM, places untapped manufacturing alternatives at greater than ₦40 trillion. Imports met 64 % of native demand for manufactured items in 2025; a $29.4 billion market home producers didn’t serve.
The dependence reaches under completed items. National Bureau of Statistics knowledge exhibits uncooked materials imports reached ₦3.53 trillion within the first half of 2025, up 19.7 per cent 12 months on 12 months. SEID’s report hyperlinks the shortfall to weak worth chains and requires stronger power, logistics, infrastructure and technical expertise to assist native producers compete.
What sits behind a manufacturing line
Factories depend on metal buildings, course of gear, storage tanks and corrosion-protected elements, a lot of which remains to be imported. Engineering corporations that may provide these domestically shorten mission timelines and cut back overseas trade publicity.
Dorman Long runs three services in Lagos: a fabrication yard at Idi-Oro, a hot-dip galvanising plant at Agege, and a waterfront yard on the Nigerian Naval Dockyard for heavy meeting moved by sea. The firm describes the Agege plant as the one large-scale, engineering-quality galvanizing facility in Nigeria. Galvanising protects metal from corrosion and is used on transmission towers, telecom masts and power infrastructure.
“The Madu platform is a good example. It was fabricated completely by Nigerians at our Naval Dockyard yard in Lagos and loaded out by sea for First E&P and NNPC’s joint venture. Work like that has often gone overseas. When it is done here, the jobs, the skills and the spend stay in Nigeria,” stated Ijeli.
Policy and capability
MAN has made implementation of the Nigeria Industrial Policy its precedence, with members citing power prices, costly credit score, overseas trade publicity and logistics as the principle limitations to enlargement. Francis Meshioye, President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, stated at a media briefing forward of the affiliation’s 54th AGM that Nigeria can change into Africa’s industrial hub provided that it strikes from drafting coverage to disciplined execution. He added that the sector’s progress can’t rely on the resilience of producers alone.
“Engineering firms are ready to grow with the sector, but three things would make the biggest difference: long-term finance for equipment at rates manufacturers can carry, consistent enforcement of local content rules, and serious investment in technical skills. Skills are where we have chosen to act. Through our partnership with the Nigerian Society of Engineers, young engineers gain hands-on industry experience, and we have recognised the best graduating engineering students at Afe Babalola University for several years. The 2030 target is reachable if capacity is built alongside policy,” stated Ijeli.
With the 2030 deadline 4 years away, how a lot of the ₦40 trillion alternative Nigeria captures might rely much less on new coverage than on the yards, vegetation and engineers already in place to ship it.
Ijeli is the Managing Director of Dorman Long Engineering Limited
