The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has expressed concerns over the declining share of the industrial sector in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP.

Consequently, the Association called on the federal government to prioritise manufacturing and industrialisation to boost the real economic situation and consolidate gains from the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director-General of MAN, in a statement made available to Vanguard while reacting to the country’s first quarter (Q1) 2025 GDP growth rate of 3.13 percent, stated that the improvement suggests that the economy has the potential to recover.

Noting that the rebased GDP was mainly driven by improved data from agriculture, services, and the informal sector, he said: “ It is important for us to express our concern over the declining role of the industrial sector, a trend that the rebased figures made unmistakably clear. Industry’s share of GDP fell from 27.65% in the 2010 base year to 21.08% under the 2019 rebased structure, marking a structural shift away from production toward low-productivity service activities. “While the rebasing exercise reveals a more diversified economy, it also exposes the underperformance of industry, particularly manufacturing, a sector which should be the backbone of Nigeria’s economic transformation”.

Continuing, Ajayi-Kadir, in the statement, said: “Manufacturing is structurally weak, with sub-sectors that should be growth drivers performing below potential, as indicated in the report. Based on the figure released, the average annual growth rate of the manufacturing sector between 2019 and 2024 is negative (-0.76%).

This means Nigeria’s manufacturing sector has been shrinking in real terms over the last five years. The rebasing confirms that Nigeria’s economy may be statistically larger, but it is not more productive, nor more industrialised.”