At the Reuters NEXT Gulf summit in Abu Dhabi, Nigeria’s foreign minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar rejected extractive approaches to African commerce. He likened old trade habits to playing Minecraft for minerals. “Sometimes it’s like the game Minecraft … No, that’s not the way it goes,” Tuggar told the summit.
He argued for partnerships that balance resource supply with Africa’s need to industrialise. His remarks came as delegates prepared for next month’s World Trade Organization ministerial, where digital trade and critical minerals top the agenda.
Tariff shock muted at home
Nigeria remains relatively insulated from Washington’s 15 per cent tariff on its non-energy exports because oil and gas are exempt. With a domestic market of 230 million consumers, Abuja can lean on scale while negotiating trade terms.
Tuggar also highlighted growing links with China, India and Brazil, noting that diversified demand shields manufacturers from single-market risk. Asked about job creation, he cited a steadier exchange rate and fresh access to foreign currency after years of scarcity.
Investors will however monitor whether the tariff exemption for hydrocarbons survives future rounds of U.S. trade policy revision. The minister argued that Africa’s rising middle class halves pay-back periods for manufacturing plants, a metric international suppliers often overlook.
Power reforms woo investors
Domestic regulation is emerging as the bigger swing factor for capital allocation. Earlier this year, Abuja cut power subsidies by 35 percent, freeing about 700 billion naira in revenue. The step trimmed the funding gap to 1.9 trillion naira. That adjustment underpins Abuja’s plan to refinance $2.6 billion (C$3.6 billion) in legacy power-sector debt. Leveraging the new Electricity Act 2023, regulators have introduced feed-in tariffs and opened generation licences to private operators. If enforcement keeps pace, the measures could unlock renewable projects that diversify supply and stabilise industrial load. Grid reliability still lags, though. Some analysts expect clean-energy investment to reach $5 billion (C$6.8 billion) annually if the reforms take hold.
Narrative risk clouds outlook
Beyond tariffs and infrastructure, Tuggar warned that misinformation can scare capital away. “Couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said after dismissing social-media claims of systematic Christian persecution in Nigeria. From an investor lens, political-risk premiums rise when perception outpaces ground realities.
Consistent engagement with multilateral partners and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat could help Nigeria reshape the narrative. At the same time, transparency on social and environmental metrics will remain essential to de-risk projects for institutional lenders. The foreign ministry is drafting an investor-relations charter that will publish data on security incidents quarterly.
Respect-based trade aligns with supply chains
Globally, miners and battery manufacturers scrambling for critical minerals are reassessing procurement models as traceability and labour standards enter green-tech legislation. Canada’s pending Critical Mineral Strategy, for example, emphasises reciprocal benefits for host communities and accountability for greenhouse-gas footprints.
By framing trade as co-development rather than extraction, Abuja positions itself to meet those evolving buyer obligations without sacrificing economic sovereignty. Success however will depend on logistics upgrades, notably the stalled Lagos–Kano rail link that could cut inland freight costs by 30 per cent.
Federal planners are weighing public-private partnerships for the corridor, mirroring the model used on the C$1.9-billion Lekki Deep Sea Port. Stable policy and credible dispute resolution will decide whether that pipeline of mixed-use infrastructure can close Nigeria’s competitiveness gap.