Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, says the country will not be drawn into a reactionary posture in response to global trade headwinds, including the newly announced 15% tariffs by the United States.
Instead, she affirms in that the Tinubu administration remains focused on implementing long-term reforms to protect Nigeria’s strategic interests and support domestic investors.
“We’re not reactionary — we’re focused on what is best for Nigeria,” Oduwole said during an interview on Arise News on Monday. “Our response is to continue with what this administration with the Renewed Hope eight-point agenda has focused on.”
She described the new U.S. tariff as part of a shifting global environment but stressed that Nigeria’s strategy remains centred on stability, capital mobilisation, and private-sector growth.
“The U.S. will remain one of our strategic trading partners,” she said. “We have a commercial investment partnership which we launched on the 24th of June. In fact, the ambassador was in my office today with his team, just looking at the progress on that.”
While acknowledging that some of the U.S. criticisms around trade facilitation were fair, she insisted Nigeria is already addressing them as part of its internal reforms.
“You would know that we’re already addressing many of these systemically for our own good — first of all, for Nigeria,” she said. “Even the strongest critics will admit that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been able to stabilise our monetary policy, FX repatriation… and the best is yet to come.”
Dr Oduwole also highlighted Nigeria’s expanding efforts within West Africa, citing a strengthened bilateral relationship with the Republic of Benin. She recently led a high-level delegation to Cotonou to follow up on trade agreements initiated during President Tinubu’s December 2023 visit.
“The idea the two presidents had was to basically make our borders completely seamless,” she said. “There are four thematic areas to this memorandum of understanding that we’re about to go into negotiations for in Q4 of this year: trade in goods, trade in services and private sector engagement, customs and trade facilitation, and a legal framework.”
She added that the MOU is expected to be finalised by the first quarter of 2026.
During the visit, the Nigerian delegation, including officials from Customs and the Foreign Affairs Ministry, toured the Beninese seaport and inspected the joint border post.
“We want to make sure that goods can move and can be traced — let’s call the elephant in the room — to make sure that there’s no smuggling and no incentive for smuggling,” she said. “The collaboration between our two customs is actually a model that is going to be used across the other three thematic areas.”
Dr Oduwole reiterated that Nigeria’s trade and investment drive will be anchored on domestic capital mobilisation — not just foreign direct investment.
“You know that we’re leading champions in the AfCFTA, particularly in the area of digital trade,” she said. “We’re currently not just solidifying and having a warm handshake with our traditional business partners — we’re also looking for other markets and other business partners around the world.”
Referencing the recently held Domestic Investors Summit, she said the administration’s focus remains on unlocking local capital and building trust.
“We discussed two critical things: access to capital and access to markets,” she said. “After you’ve fixed the macroeconomic terrain, you now have to bring the trust to make sure that capital can come here to partner with local capital and ensure the cost of capital comes down.”
She cited ongoing reforms in tax, banking, and monetary policy as signals of a broader economic shift.
“You see the whole reform of our tax infrastructure. You see what our own private sector — just even our banks — are doing and how they’re now consolidating and going to be bigger and stronger.”
With multiple engagements already held this year — including hosting the Africa Venture Capital Association, African Sovereign Wealth Authorities, and the Afreximbank AGM — Oduwole said the groundwork is being laid for sustainable growth.
“I expect that by the time we’re in Q1 of 2026, we’d have seen a significant shift in how capital is being catalysed, particularly in the Nigerian economy,” she said.
Confident in the administration’s direction, she added:
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a very smart businessperson, even before being a politician. When you look at the renewed hope agenda… this economy is moving in the right direction. Even the strongest critics will admit that whatever the lag, we’re in the right direction — and the best is yet to come.”
Boluwatife Enome
The post Oduwole: Nigeria Won’t React to US Tariffs, Focus Remains on Prioritising Domestic Reforms, Regional Trade appeared first on Arise News.
