NIGERIA'S DRIVE TOWARDS RURAL AREAS INDUSTRIALISATION GETS BOOST

L-R: National Coordinator of the initiative, Dr. Lanre Johnson; and Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, Director-General, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC). 

The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), in partnership with RFNL, has unveiled an ambitious roadmap aimed at driving industrialization and economic growth through the development of 774 industrial clusters across Nigeria’s local government areas.

The initiative, known as the Cluster Development Programme (CDP), is designed to stimulate manufacturing, empower Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), attract foreign and local investments, and deepen local content development beyond the oil sector. 

According to the roadmap document, the programme will be supervised by a 10-member National Steering Committee chaired by the Director-General of RMRDC. A joint RMRDC-RFNL secretariat is also expected to be established to coordinate implementation and ensure effective monitoring of projects nationwide. 

In a statement by the Council's Director-General, Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, the initiative will help to activate the Nigerian economy in a very significant way. 

"When you have [industrial] clusters across the 774 local government areas in Nigeria, you have activated the economy in a very significant way," Prof. Ike-Muonso said. 

Part of the implementation strategy of the initiative includes securing the support and approval of President Bola Tinubu for the establishment of a Presidential Committee on the 774 Industrial Clusters Development Programme, alongside seed funding support for MSMEs. 

The document also revealed plans to explore the establishment of a Venture Bank with private sector participation. Joint engagements with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Ministry of Finance, and the Presidency are expected to facilitate the process. 

On his part, the National Coordinator of the initiative, Dr. Lanre Johnson stated that the programme will enable the country to turn each local government to an industrial hub that will warehouse each cluster per local government. 

"The programme will enable the country to turn each local government to an industrial hub that will warehouse each cluster per local government. And in line with the objectives, the initiative has been designed in such a way that one MSME will be able to generate about ₦80m annually," he said. 

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To fund the programme, the partners are targeting $100 billion in investments by 2030 through the Special Industrial Cluster Investment Programme (SICIP). Additional funding sources will include budgetary allocations, intervention funds, development finance institutions, and partnerships with agencies such as the Bank of Industry (BOI), SMEDAN, and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. 

The roadmap outlined that implementation will begin from selected states and regions before being replicated across all 36 states and the 774 local government areas. Activities will include stakeholder engagements, policy reforms, entrepreneurship development, skills acquisition programmes, industrial exchange initiatives, and project monitoring and evaluation. 

Officials stated that the programme would leverage the Local Content Development Beyond Oil (LCDBO) model to ensure sustainability and economic inclusiveness. 

As part of the implementation timeline, an official visit to RMRDC is scheduled for the last week of May 2026, while an investment roundtable focused on the automotive sector is slated for July 2026. The Southwest regional launch, beginning with Oyo State, is also expected in July 2026.

In addition, meetings with key financial institutions, including the Islamic Development Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the Bank of Industry, are already ongoing.

The Special Industrial Cluster Investment Programme (SICIP 3.0) is scheduled to hold on November 25, 2026, while launch dates for other regions and states will be announced subsequently. 

The roadmap further disclosed that investment inflows will come in various forms, including cash contributions, land, barter arrangements, counterpart funding, capital goods, equity financing, debt financing, technology transfer, innovation partnerships, and forward buying agreements. 

Stakeholders believe the initiative could significantly boost Nigeria’s industrial capacity, create jobs, strengthen regional economies, and position the country as a major manufacturing hub in Africa.