The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture is heading back to China for a third round of investment diplomacy, unveiling plans for its Business and Investment Forum in Guangzhou as part of a broader push to attract sustainable foreign direct investment toward the Federal Government’s goal of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The forum is set to take place alongside the 140th Canton Fair, one of the world’s largest trade exhibitions, giving NACCIMA a high-traffic platform to connect Nigerian interests with Chinese investors, manufacturers, industrialists, and business executives across a range of strategic sectors.
Announcing the initiative, NACCIMA Public Relations Officer Madinat Adigun-Oladotun tied the forum directly to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, framing it as part of a deliberate effort to position Nigeria as a preferred destination for investment, manufacturing, and industrial growth. Her argument centered on a familiar but persistent critique of Nigeria’s economic structure: that the country remains too dependent on consumption rather than production. “Nigeria has the population, natural resources, entrepreneurial spirit and strategic location to serve as the gateway to the African market. To become an economic powerhouse, we must deliberately accelerate industrialisation by prioritising local manufacturing, innovation, value-added processing and reducing our dependence on imports,” she said, adding that realizing that ambition would require more investment, better infrastructure, easier access to financing, advanced technology, and stronger international partnerships working in tandem.
According to Adigun-Oladotun, the Guangzhou forum wasn’t conceived as a one-off event but as a mechanism for building lasting relationships with credible Chinese investors genuinely interested in supporting Nigeria’s industrial transformation over time. She pointed to the forum’s first two editions as evidence the approach is already paying dividends, crediting the initiative with strengthening ties to the China Chamber of International Commerce Guangzhou, with support from Nigeria’s Consul General in Guangzhou, Ambassador Mairo Musa Abbas. That collaboration, she said, has already begun opening doors in sectors including automobile and electric vehicle manufacturing, agribusiness, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, and industrial park development.
Looking ahead to this third edition, Adigun-Oladotun called on federal, state, and local governments, along with private sector stakeholders, to take part in the trade mission, framing broad participation as key to attracting higher-quality investment, enabling technology transfer, deepening domestic manufacturing capacity, and generating sustainable employment. She described Guangzhou itself as one of the world’s premier manufacturing and commercial hubs, encouraging Nigerian businesses to use the platform to forge strategic partnerships capable of meaningfully accelerating the country’s industrialisation and broader economic growth.
