The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, has called for stronger government-private sector partnerships, increased investment in young people and improved access to capital to transform Nigeria from a trading nation into a value-chain economy.
Enikanolaiye made the call at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES #32) during a high-level panel discussion on “From Trade to Value Chains: Building Regional Industries to Compete Globally,” with the sub-theme, “Invest Nigeria.”
The Minister, courtesy of a Statement by Raphael Oni, his Special Assistant on Digital Media and Public Diplomacy on Monday, 26th October 2026, said government alone could not mobilise the resources required to achieve sustainable economic growth, stressing the need for greater collaboration with domestic businesses and foreign investors to expand industrial production, create jobs and promote shared prosperity.
The minister also reaffirmed the Federal Government’s reordered 4D foreign policy doctrine, which prioritises Demography, Development, Democracy and Diaspora, with national interest, defined by the welfare and prosperity of Nigerians, at its core.
He explained that democracy must translate into tangible economic benefits for citizens, including improved living standards, employment opportunities and increased prosperity.
“Democracy is good, but it is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Democracy must deliver on core priorities of economic development and economic prosperity to our people,” he said.
On mobilising investment, Enikanolaiye emphasised the importance of constructive dialogue between government and the private sector, noting that domestic capital was as crucial as foreign investment in advancing Nigeria’s economic transformation.
He said stronger partnerships would enable businesses to expand production, strengthen local industries and improve the country’s competitiveness in regional and international markets.
The minister also identified Nigeria’s youthful population as a major economic asset, urging increased investment in human capital, small and medium-sized enterprises, technology, innovation and creativity.
According to him, these sectors hold significant potential for generating employment and increasing wealth and income among young Nigerians.
Enikanolaiye further cited improvements in macroeconomic stability, including declining inflation, as factors that could help businesses make informed decisions and plan for the future.
He, however, stressed the need to bring the Ministry of Foreign Affairs closer to Nigerians and strengthen its engagement with the private sector to ensure that diplomatic initiatives deliver tangible benefits to citizens.
The minister said Nigeria could build resilient regional industries capable of competing globally by strengthening government-to-government, government-to-business and business-to-business partnerships across West Africa, the African continent and the wider international community.
Also speaking at the session, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, General Birame Diop, represented by the Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Dehpue Yenpea Zuo, called for a shift from trade agreements to industrial production as a strategy for creating jobs and strengthening regional economies.
“Trade agreements do not create jobs; industries do,” Diop said.
He observed that intra-African trade remained at approximately 15 per cent, compared with more than 60 per cent in Europe and Asia, attributing the gap partly to the limited scale of regional industries.
Diop described the ECOWAS regional market, with more than 300 million consumers, as an immediate opportunity for Nigerian manufacturers to expand production and achieve economies of scale before competing across the continent under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He outlined four priorities for accelerating regional industrialisation: implementing existing agreements, beginning with commitments on border management; developing regional value chains in areas where West Africa has a competitive advantage; mobilising financing that reaches producers across supply chains; and measuring progress by jobs created and goods processed within the region.
The ECOWAS Commission president stressed that translating regional trade commitments into industrial capacity would be critical to creating employment, strengthening local production and improving West Africa’s competitiveness in the global economy.
