The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has warned against growing calls for unbridled importation of petroleum products. It argued that such a policy could undermine Nigeria’s industrialisation drive, weaken domestic refining investments, and deepen economic vulnerability.

In a statement issued on Sunday, CPPE’s Chief Executive Officer, Muda Yusuf, said the debate around petroleum imports went beyond fuel supply and touches on the broader issues of economic sovereignty, industrial development, and macroeconomic resilience.

The advice comes amid an ongoing legal dispute between Dangote Refinery and the federal government following the issuance of fresh fuel import licences to major petroleum marketers by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

On 15 May, the local refinery filed a fresh lawsuit against Nigeria’s Attorney-General, seeking the reversal of fuel import licences issued to oil marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd).

In response, NNPC Ltd accused Dangote Refinery of attempting to dominate Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector through the legal action challenging the import licences granted to competing marketers.

The national oil company maintained that existing laws allow import licences to firms holding local refining licences or those with proven experience in international crude oil and petroleum products trading.

Advocacy

The CPPE in its statement on Sunday said no country had achieved industrial greatness through excessive dependence on imports.

“CPPE is deeply concerned by the growing advocacy for unbridled importation of petroleum products at a time when Nigeria should be consolidating domestic refining capacity and accelerating its industrialisation journey.

“This debate goes far beyond petroleum products. It speaks to the very architecture of Nigeria’s economic philosophy, the future of industrialisation, the resilience of the macroeconomy, and ultimately, the preservation of the country’s economic sovereignty. No nation has ever imported its way to industrial greatness,” the group said.

CPPE argued that Nigeria’s long-standing dependence on imported fuel had contributed significantly to pressure on foreign reserves, exchange rate instability, fiscal leakages, and the collapse of local refineries.

The group warned that recreating conditions that encouraged import dependence could reverse recent economic reforms and destabilise the foreign exchange market, citing Nigeria’s expenses on petroleum imports in the past.

“At the height of the fuel subsidy era, Nigeria spent trillions of naira annually subsidising imported fuel, effectively transferring national wealth, jobs, industrial opportunities, and value creation to foreign economies and their local collaborators. The country was also spending over $10 billion annually on petroleum product imports,” it said.

The think-tank maintained that self-reliance in petroleum refining should be viewed as economic pragmatism rather than isolationism, stressing that every serious economy protects its strategic sectors.

CPPE also referenced the USA, China, and the European countries that embraced industrial policy and supported manufacturing competitiveness to transform their respective economies, saying Nigeria should not be a destination for imported goods.

“The consequences were severe and far-reaching: persistent pressure on the exchange rate, widening trade deficits, weak industrial competitiveness, massive fiscal leakages, investor uncertainty and macroeconomic fragility,” the organisation stated.

“The United States is deploying tariffs and industrial subsidies to support manufacturing competitiveness. China aggressively protects strategic industries. Europe is increasingly embracing industrial policy intervention. India continues to deepen domestic manufacturing through its ‘Make in India’ agenda.

“Industrialisation has never been built on extreme liberalisation. No nation develops by turning itself into an attractive destination for imported goods,” the group said.

The organisation also defended the need for strategic policy support for local refining investments, particularly the Dangote Refinery and modular refineries across the country.

“Nigeria has just witnessed one of the most consequential industrial investments in Africa through the establishment of the Dangote Refinery, alongside growing investments in modular refineries across the country. These investments should ordinarily be strategically supported, celebrated, and strengthened.

“Instead, there appears to be mounting pressure for unrestricted importation of refined petroleum products, a policy orientation capable of undermining domestic refining investments and discouraging future industrial commitments. This presents a troubling contradiction in policy signalling,” the think-tank said.

Unrestricted competition

CPPE argued that calls for unrestricted competition between imported and locally produced petroleum products ignore the structural disadvantages confronting Nigerian manufacturers, including poor infrastructure, high energy costs, elevated interest rates, and foreign exchange volatility.

“Competition can only be meaningful where production occurs under broadly comparable macroeconomic, structural, and regulatory conditions. In the absence of such parity, what is often presented as ‘competition’ merely becomes the institutionalisation of structural disadvantage against domestic industries.

“Local enterprises should not be subjected to destructive competition under profoundly asymmetric conditions. Such an approach would not promote efficiency; it would undermine industrialisation, weaken domestic investment, erode jobs, compromise economic sovereignty, and deepen import dependence,” CPPE said.

The organisation further noted that indiscriminate liberalisation had contributed to the collapse of several once-thriving Nigerian industries, including tyre manufacturing firms, textile mills, battery producers, and automobile assembly plants.

According to CPPE, the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area could also become disruptive if deliberate steps are not taken to strengthen domestic competitiveness.

Monopoly concerns

On concerns over monopoly in the refining sector, the organisation dismissed claims that Dangote Refinery posed a monopolistic threat.

CPPE said the Dangote Refinery should be acknowledged for undertaking an extraordinary industrial investment at a scale unprecedented in Africa without collapsing state-owned refineries.

“Attempts to portray Dangote Refinery as a monopolistic threat are simplistic, fundamentally flawed, and grossly unfair. The refinery did not prevent other investors from entering the sector. It did not cause the collapse of state-owned refineries. It simply undertook an extraordinary industrial investment at a scale unprecedented in Africa.

“Scale creates competitiveness. Scale lowers unit costs. Scale deepens value chains. Scale strengthens economic resilience. Scale should not be criminalised,” CPPE stated.

Industrial policies

The group concluded by urging the government to pursue consistent industrial policies that support domestic production, reduce import dependence, and strengthen local value chains.

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“Nigeria cannot achieve meaningful industrialisation without deliberate and sustained support for domestic production. Industrial transformation requires: strategic protection, policy consistency, strong domestic value chains, support for local investors, and a reduction in import dependence.

“No economy becomes prosperous by importing what it can produce domestically. The future of Nigeria’s economic resilience lies in production, refining, manufacturing, and value addition, not in the perpetuation of import dependence,” CPPE added.