There are over 2000 industrial establishments in the country. Among these are a giant oil industry, Iron complexes, steel rolling, pharmaceutical industries, food processing, car assembling and the up-coming Export Processing Zone (EPZ).

Government economic policy favors and places priority on greater investment in agricultural production and manufacturing and exports of production, abundantly skilled and versatile human resources and access to a vast local market of over 100 million people and beyond in the sub-region. Sectoral highlights are addressed in the following sections:

There are four Industrial Sectors which are considered priority areas of development because of their linkage effects on the other sectors and potential catalytic role in the overall growth of the industrial sectors. These priority areas which are most favored in the administration of government industrial incentives are:
  •  Metallurgical/Engineering Industries
  • Metallurgical/Engineering Industries
  • chemical/Petrochemical Sector
  • Construction Sector

Specifically the industrial projects desired from these sectors are:
  •  Foundries and Forges;
  • Metal Fabrication/Machine Tools;
  • Pharmaceuticals;
  • Rubber and Plastic;
  • Leather and Leather products;
  • Cement;
  • Other non-metallic material building materials; bricks, ceramic glass;
  • Food Processing;
  • Sugar,
  • confectionaries and Beverages
  • Cereal and Grain Milling;  Fruits, Vegetables, Vegetable Oils, Oil Seeds, Roots and Tubers.

Others
In addition to the twelve identified priority areas mentioned above, investors are welcome to also take part wholly or jointly with Nigerians in the following specific projects:
  1. Gemstones cutting and polishing;
  2. Gold processing;
  3. Mini-sugar production plants;
  4. Multi-mineral plant for gypsum, talc, kaolin, marble/dolornite, baryte etc;
  5. Cement production (700- 1000 metric tonne per day) 6) Lead and zinc project
  6. Processing of salt from sea water;
  7. Sodium triphosphate production
  8. Small medium scale plant for sheet metal reduction
  9. Mining of industrial minerals; bitumen etc;
  10. Stone cutting/polishing;
  11. Fabrication of spare parts;
  12. Exploitation of coal with known reserve of 293 140 000 tonnes in Enugu, Kogi and Adamawa States  timber/wood processing

The agricultural potential of Nigeria is barely being tapped and this explains the inability of the country to meet the ever-increasing demand for agricultural produce.
Although the agricultural sector remains a dominant employer of labour, serious investment is needed across the board to enhance production and increase the contribution of the sector to GDP. Investment is required in the following priority activities:

  1. Crop production to achieve food security and to provide industrial raw materials. Potentials exist for the following crops:Cereals: Maize, rice, sorghum, corn, millet, wheat.
    Root crops: Cassava, yam, ginger, potato, coco yam.
    Legumes: Soya beans, groundnuts, cowpeas.
    Fruits: Mango, banana, oranges, guava, papaw, pineapple.
    Vegetables: Cabbage, green pepper, carrots, lettuce, spice, onions, melons.
    Tree crops: Oil palm, cocoa, rubber, coconut, kola nut, coffee, she nuts, beniseed, cotton, cashew nut, sugar cane.
    Others: apples, grape vines and pears have been successfully established in the high plateau regions.
  2. Food processing and preservation involving industries that will use agricultural produce as raw materials.
  3. Livestock and Fisheries production which have great potentials for development. Grazing lands are abundant, facilities for animal feed production are plentiful, and the in-land rivers, lakes and coastal creeks are enough to augment ocean fishery resources.
  4. Agricultural inputs supplies and machinery, water resources development especially for flood control infrastructure and irrigation.
  5. Commodity trading and transportation.
  6. Development and fabrication of right small-scale mechanized technologies for on-farm processing and secondary processing of agricultural produce.
  7. Exploitation of timber and wood processing activities. A wide range of wood resources abound.


Aluminum Sector
The aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, is a joint venture project in which Nigeria owns 70% of the equity shares, while the remaining 30% is shared between AG Ferrostaal of Germany with 20% shares and Reynolds Inc. Of US with 10% shares.

The present administration is making efforts to ensure that the aluminum smelter plant is properly funded. It has given invitation to private investors to invest in the company and /or take part of Nigeria¡¯s 70% shares.
The plant is one of the best and biggest in the world with the most modern technology. A number of countries have signed or are negotiating trade and economic cooperation agreements with Nigeria.
Since the essence of these bilateral agreements is to foster unity: boost economic growth and technological co-operation, foreign investors should take advantage of existing bilateral ties and harken to the call to invest in the ALSCON project as in other projects in the power and steel sectors.

Communications Sector
The deregulation of the telecommunications sector in 1992 through Decree 75 was to allow for private sector participation in the sector and expand the nation’s communication facilities. 
The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) was established so to regulate the performance of the sector.
The liberalization thrust was further strengthened by the Nigeria Communications Commission (Amendment) Decree No. 30 of 1998 which deleted those provisions in the first decree that inhibited competition in the sector thus enhancing the expected role of private sector enterprises.

The functions of Nigerian Communications Commission include:
    1. Regulating the privatized sector of the telecommunications industry.
    2. Facilitating entry into the telecommunications market by private entrepreneurs.
    3. Creating a regulatory environment for the supply of telecommunications equipment and facilities.
      Issuing of telecommunications licenses.
    4. Promoting fair competition and efficient market conduct among all players in the telecommunications industry.
    5. Arbitrating disputes between participants in the telecommunications industry and protecting consumers against unfair practices.