Opinion: Why import restrictions aren’t enough to help Nigeria industrialise

Writing in The Conversation, Dr Michael Odijie (UCL History) and Poorva Karkare of ECDPM, take a careful and critical look at how Nigeria's closed-borders policies designed to fight goods smuggling is limiting trade with their neighbours and their own industrialisation. Nigeria has a strong ambition to industrialise. It has relied heavily on the restriction of imports of certain goods targeted for domestic production. But for Nigeria's industrialisation drive to succeed, it needs a broader array of industrial policy tools than simply import restrictions. These tools should include addressing binding constraints in different sectors to raise productivity. And addressing the flaws in the design and implementation of industrial policies. A further complicating factor is regional integration, specifically Nigeria's approach to it, and a lack of capacity both in Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States to manage illegal cross-border trade.