Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), today urged Nigeria to seize opportunities arising from shifting global supply chains to drive job creation, strengthen manufacturing, and reduce import dependence.
Speaking at a panel discussion titled “From Scale to Capital: Financing Nigeria’s Role as Africa’s Digital Trade and Infrastructure Anchor” at Nigeria House during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Okonjo-Iweala highlighted the potential for Nigeria to attract significant investments amid ongoing geopolitical disruptions.
Geopolitical tensions, particularly between the United States and China, have accelerated the diversification of supply chains, with companies increasingly adopting “China+1” strategies to mitigate risks from over-reliance on a single source.
While much of this diversification has remained within Asia (e.g., shifts to India), Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that proactive efforts could enable Nigeria to capture a sizable share.
“There is an opportunity now to attract these supply chains,” Okonjo-Iweala stated. “Everything we can do to showcase Nigeria as a country worthy of investment is what we should be doing. We should deliberately have strategies to go after those investments and investors to go to China, the US, whatever it takes to come and invest in our country.”
She called for Nigeria to map competitive opportunities and pursue aggressive investment promotion. Reforms currently underway are positive but must shift focus from stabilization to tangible job creation.
“We need to move from stabilisation to job creation, because that is where we are lacking,” she noted, adding that progress would not occur overnight but is moving in the right direction.
Okonjo-Iweala identified specific high-potential sectors for localization and investment attraction: Renewable energy: “Let’s build solar panels in Nigeria. We are importing, but we can also manufacture. We have the renewable capacity.”
Textiles and fashion: “In fashion, let them come to invest. Every time I buy a piece of wax (textile), I check to see where it’s made. Let’s attract investment to make it at home rather than elsewhere.”
Pharmaceuticals: “There is a chance there as well. These are some of the supply chains I would be attracting.”
By attracting these supply chains, Nigeria can deepen its manufacturing base, create jobs, reduce reliance on imports, and position itself as a key anchor for Africa’s digital trade and infrastructure development. The panel also featured Dr. Oludapo Olusi, Managing Director of the Bank of Industry.