NIP 2025: FG positions small businesses as engine of industrialisation

By Yinka Kolawole

The Federal Government has positioned Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as the biggest beneficiaries of the Nigeria Industrial Policy (NIP) 2025, with a package of low-cost financing, preferential government procurement, industrial clusters and digital transformation initiatives aimed at accelerating industrial growth and reducing the country’s dependence on imports.

The policy, unveiled earlier this year, places MSMEs at the centre of Nigeria’s industrialisation strategy, acknowledging their contribution of about 50 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and more than 80 per cent of national employment.

To address one of the sector’s biggest constraints – access to finance, the policy provides for sector-specific funding at single-digit interest rates of between five and nine per cent, especially for manufacturers and agro-processors. It also proposes the recapitalisation of the Bank of Industry (BoI) to N3 trillion by 2026 to

significantly expand long-term industrial financing.