Stakeholders in Nigeria’s export sector have called for stronger incentives and increased value addition to enable manufacturers compete effectively in international markets.

They ​‌‍​‌‍⁠‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍⁠‍‌‌​‌​made the call at the ninth Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Promotion Group (MANEG) on Wednesday in Lagos.

The event had the theme: “Unlocking Nigeria’s Manufacturing Export Performance Through Tackling Cost, Logistics as Competitiveness Constraints.”

The Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mrs Nonye Ayeni, said value addition was critical to enabling Nigerian exporters secure premium prices in the global market.

Ayeni said Nigeria recorded its highest-ever non-oil export performance in 2025, with exports valued at $6.1 billion and volume reaching 8.02 million metric tonnes.

She, however, stressed the need to move beyond exporting raw commodities by strengthening value addition, backward integration and production.

“Value addition remains very key because that’s the only way our exporters, our players in the value chain, are able to take full value and advantage of their efforts, their investments.

“It helps you to get a premium pricing in the global market,” she said.

The Chairman, MANEG, Mrs Ruth Owojaiye, said payment of outstanding Export Expansion Grant (EEG) claims would enable exporters reinvest in their businesses and reduce production costs.

Owojaiye said manufacturers continued to contend with high interest rates, energy and logistics costs, poor infrastructure and other challenges weakening the competitiveness of Nigerian products.

She urged the Federal Government to fulfil its commitment to clear outstanding EEG claims, saying the incentive would provide manufacturers with resources to strengthen their businesses.

“We need the incentives to be paid to the exporters.

“We think that by the time exporters are able to get these export incentives, they can now put that and invest that money back into the businesses, which now brings down the cost of production,” she said.

Owojaiye said lower production costs would ultimately enable Nigerian products compete more favourably in international markets.

She also urged the Federal Government to intensify policy interventions aimed at improving the competitiveness of Made-in-Nigerian products.

“Priority should be given to reducing the cost of doing business, expanding access to affordable export financing, improving power supply and transport infrastructure and improving trade infrastructure and logistics.

“It should also be given to streamlining export procedures, providing targeted fiscal incentives, strengthening market access initiatives, and providing targeted stable incentives for export-oriented manufacturers,” she said.

Trade facilitation expert, Mr Kola Awe, said the high cost of operating in Nigeria made it difficult for manufacturers to compete with producers in countries with lower infrastructure, financing and logistics costs.

Awe said logistics alone accounted for a significant proportion of the cost of exporting Nigerian products, while high interest rates and infrastructure deficiencies further increased the burden on manufacturers.

He said export incentives such as the EEG were important in cushioning the cost disadvantages faced by Nigerian exporters.

According to him, manufacturers were also affected by poor roads, inadequate rail infrastructure, port delays, regulatory challenges, informal trade and grey-market activities.

Awe said the factors combined to make Nigerian products more expensive in destination markets and weakened the ability of legitimate manufacturers to compete.

He urged the government to strengthen the export ecosystem through improved logistics infrastructure, cold-chain systems and more efficient trade procedures.

Awe also called for stronger implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), saying the continental market provided a major opportunity for Nigerian manufacturers to expand exports.

The Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the outstanding EEG backlog should be cleared and the scheme reviewed to make it more effective.

Ajayi-Kadir said the grant was designed to cushion the impact of operating in a high-cost environment and enable Nigerian manufacturers penetrate international markets.

“If you operate in a high-cost environment, you need to be able to cushion the effect so that we’ll be able to discount our export and be able to have market penetration in those economies where we want to sell,” he said.

He said clearing the backlog would reinforce manufacturers’ confidence in government while providing an opportunity to improve the administration of the incentive.

Ajayi-Kadir urged the government to use export incentives deliberately to create jobs, scale exports and attract investment into export-oriented manufacturing.

He also called on manufacturers to take advantage of AfCFTA, the African Growth and Opportunity Act and other trade initiatives to expand Nigeria’s presence in international markets.