Dike Onwuamaeze
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said that Nigeria’s commerce and industrial insurance policies had been designed to reverse the development whereby the nation’s participation in worldwide commerce is characterised by buying and selling with out manufacturing and shopping for and promoting different nations’ items.
President Tinubu said this yesterday on the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, throughout the official opening ceremony of the 40th version of Lagos International Trade Fair (LAIF) with the theme ‘Connecting Businesses, Creating Value’.
The commerce truthful, which is able to run from November 6 to November 15, 2026, is being organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
Delivering the truthful’s keynote tackle, Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), Senator John Owan Enoh, defined that Nigeria’s industrial coverage and its commerce coverage are two halves of 1 technique and never two separate agendas.
He mentioned, “Trade with out manufacturing is merely shopping for and promoting different individuals’s work.
“True progress comes after we make issues right here, after we add worth right here and after we make use of individuals right here.
“That is why the Federal Executive Council has approved the Nigeria Industrial Policy (NIP), which gives us a clear roadmap to strengthen manufacturing, to deepen local value chains and turn our raw materials into finished goods.”
He added, “Our industrial coverage and our commerce coverage will not be two separate agendas. They are two halves of 1 technique. And neither can succeed with out the opposite.
“Industry offers us one thing to promote. Trade offers us someplace to promote it. A manufacturing unit with no entry to markets will shut its gates.
“A commerce settlement with nothing to export solely opens our markets to different nations’ items, which is why trade, commerce and funding sit collectively underneath one ministry, working in the direction of one set of targets.
“The Nigerian industrial policy works hand in hand with the trade policy for Nigeria and the Nigerian investment policy.”
He mentioned that industrial parks and particular financial zones are serving Nigeria’s export corridors in order that when it negotiates underneath the African Continental Free Trade Area with world companions, it “bargains for the sectors we are building at home such as textiles and garments, automotive parts, pharmaceuticals and creative industries.”
The President of LCCI, Mr. Leye Kupoluyi, in his welcome tackle mentioned that the 40th version of the LITF attracted over 1,000 exhibitors, introduced producers nearer to shoppers, launched rising companies to new clients and enabled relationships throughout industries and borders.
Kupoluyi mentioned that behind each exhibition stand is a narrative of an entrepreneur who took a danger, a producer who invested in manufacturing, a staff that developed an answer, or a enterprise looking for its subsequent alternative.
He mentioned, “These stories give the fair its purpose. Our responsibility is to help turn participation into commercial relationships, stronger enterprises and lasting economic value.”
In her goodwill message, the Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc, Dr. Adaora Umeoji, mentioned that the truthful has held its place as a gathering level for consumers, sellers, producers, and traders from throughout Africa and past.
Umeoji mentioned, “Trade creates transactions. Growth comes when that transaction is financed and scaled. Global connection is what allows a business in Lagos to find a buyer in Accra, a supplier in Nairobi, and a partner in London.”
She declared that Zenith Bank is proud to function the official banker of this truthful for the yr 2026, in addition to 2027 and 2028.
“Our partnership displays our confidence in Nigerian enterprise and within the small and medium-sized companies that hold this financial system going.
“To manufacturers, traders, and service providers here, we salute your enterprise. To our international exhibitors and visitors, we welcome you to Lagos,” she mentioned.
The Regional Director for Anglophone West Africa, African Export and Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK), Mr. Kudakwashe Matereke, counseled the LCCI for sustaining the commerce truthful for 40 years, including that Afeximbank is a proud associate of the chamber in advancing Africa’s commerce agenda.
Matereke mentioned, “This fair is, therefore, an important step on the road to Intra-African Trade Fair 2027, and we look forward to building on that momentum together with the chamber and the government of Nigeria.”
