NCSP, NACCIMA Partner to Unlock SME-Led Industrial Growth, Deepen Nigeria–China Economic Ties

NCSP, NACCIMA Partner to Unlock SME-Led Industrial Growth, Deepen Nigeria–China Economic Ties

The (NCSP) and the (NACCIMA) have renewed their commitment to strengthening collaboration aimed at accelerating Nigeria’s industrial expansion, with a strong focus on empowering Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The renewed push followed a high-level meeting between NCSP and the leadership of NACCIMA, where both institutions agreed to align efforts to deepen Nigeria–China economic cooperation and position SMEs as key beneficiaries of trade, manufacturing and investment initiatives.

Director-General of NCSP, Joseph Tegbe, described the Partnership as a structured coordination platform established to drive Nigeria’s strategic economic engagement with China in a disciplined and result-oriented manner. He said the NCSP’s core mandates include oversight of initiatives under the (FOCAC), advancement of priority economic programmes, and facilitation of catalytic industrial projects across critical sectors.

Tegbe explained that the next phase of engagement would prioritise harmonisation of ongoing initiatives, stronger inter-agency coordination and clearer execution frameworks to ensure Nigerian businesses—particularly SMEs—benefit more directly and sustainably from bilateral trade and investment flows.

According to him, both parties reviewed existing collaborations and investment pipelines, agreeing on the need to streamline coordination at federal and subnational levels to improve policy coherence, enhance implementation efficiency and eliminate fragmentation.

He also underscored the importance of leveraging landmark trade instruments such as China’s Zero-Tariff Agreement with African countries, describing it as a strategic pathway to scale up domestic manufacturing, deepen value addition and strengthen Nigeria’s export competitiveness.

President of NACCIMA and Chairman of the Organized Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN), Engr. Jani Ibrahim, commended NCSP’s structured engagement model and its deliberate focus on SMEs as drivers of inclusive industrial growth. He reaffirmed the readiness of the organised private sector to collaborate closely with NCSP in mobilising enterprises, providing structured policy feedback and ensuring measurable enterprise-level outcomes from Nigeria–China economic engagements.

Both sides identified practical pathways to integrate SMEs into manufacturing value chains linked to Chinese partnerships, expand agro-processing and value-added production, strengthen technical and vocational education collaborations to bridge industrial skills gaps, and promote geo-cluster industrial parks capable of anchoring regional manufacturing ecosystems.

They agreed to establish a formal working interface to translate strategic alignment into measurable results, with defined focus areas including investment facilitation, SME capacity development, industrial cluster formation and export-oriented growth.

The engagement underscores NCSP’s resolve to convert diplomatic goodwill into tangible economic gains and expand opportunities for Nigerian businesses through NACCIMA’s nationwide network. The initiative aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President , which seeks to drive sustained and inclusive growth anchored on industrial productivity and private-sector dynamism.