The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has raised concerns over the growing presence of foreign traders, particularly Chinese nationals, in Nigeria’s retail and distributive trade sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Muda Yusuf, raised the concern in a statement on Sunday, saying the development could put pressure on Nigerian businesses and employment in sectors where local capacity is already well established.
Yusuf said concerns had emerged across several areas, including textiles and fabrics, ICT products and accessories, automobile spare parts and tyres, electrical products, plumbing materials, household goods and other consumer and industrial products.
He said the growing participation of foreign traders in retail “deserves urgent policy attention”, particularly given the importance of the distributive trade sector to employment and livelihoods in Nigeria.
According to him, the sector employs an estimated 27.5 per cent of the country’s workforce and remains a major source of income for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
Yusuf said the development was occurring against the backdrop of broader economic challenges, including unemployment, poverty, weak consumer purchasing power and high financing costs.
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He added that protests and complaints by traders in some major commercial markets should not be ignored.
The CPPE chief, however, clarified that the organisation’s concern was not directed at Chinese investment or Nigeria’s wider economic relationship with China.
“China remains one of Nigeria’s most important trading partners and the leading source of the country’s imports,” he said.
He noted that Nigerian businesses had maintained longstanding commercial relationships with Chinese manufacturers, exporters and major distributors.
Rather, Yusuf said the concern was the movement of some foreign suppliers and traders downstream into retail activities where Nigerians already possess substantial capacity.
He argued that when overseas manufacturers or major suppliers sell products to Nigerian importers and distributors and subsequently establish businesses that compete directly with those distributors at the retail level, questions of market structure and fair competition arise.
CPPE Seeks Review Of Foreign Traders’ Permits
Yusuf called for a review of business permits, expatriate quotas, immigration approvals and other authorisations issued to foreign nationals operating in Nigeria’s retail and distributive trade sector.
He said expatriate quotas should primarily facilitate the entry of skills and expertise that are scarce or unavailable locally.
“They should not become instruments for displacing Nigerians from economic activities where substantial domestic competence already exists,” he said.
Yusuf argued that retail trading was generally not a specialised activity requiring scarce foreign expertise, raising questions about the effectiveness of existing regulatory and immigration frameworks.
He called for stronger enforcement of investment and immigration regulations, as well as investigations into complaints raised by Nigerian traders.
The CPPE also advocated clearer guidelines for foreign participation across the distributive trade value chain and improved coordination among immigration, investment, trade and labour authorities.
Yusuf said expatriate quotas should be linked to demonstrable skills gaps and specialised competencies.
He stressed that the CPPE was not advocating arbitrary restrictions or hostility towards foreign investors, but rather consistent enforcement of existing laws and transparent investment rules.
“For clarity, the CPPE is not calling for arbitrary restrictions or hostility towards foreign investors but a consistent and credible enforcement of existing laws, transparent rules and a clearly defined investment policy,” he said.
Yusuf urged the government to continue encouraging foreign investment in sectors such as manufacturing, infrastructure, technology, agro-processing, mining, energy and logistics, where additional capital and technical expertise are needed.
He said Nigeria’s investment policy should remain open while also taking into account employment creation, enterprise development and the country’s industrialisation priorities.