Adedeji has urged Nigeria to shift from raw exports to innovation-led growth.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Dr Zacch Adedeji, has called for a fundamental shift in Nigeria’s economic strategy, urging the country to move away from dependence on raw material exports and embrace innovation, ideas and the production of complex goods as a pathway to sustainable growth and national prosperity.
Adedeji made the call on Thursday while delivering the maiden Distinguished Personality Lecture of the Faculty of Administration at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State.
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In the lecture, titled “From Potential to Prosperity: Export-Led Economy,” Adedeji argued that Nigeria must rethink economic growth through the lens of complexity, stressing that development cannot be achieved by merely producing and exporting more of the same raw commodities.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Dare Adekanmbi, the NRS chairman lamented that Nigeria operates a dual economy, with a high-tech oil sector alongside a low-productivity informal sector, but lacks a vibrant, labour-absorbing industrial base capable of driving higher economic complexity.
Adedeji noted that Nigeria’s export sector stagnated for nearly three decades between 1998 and 2023, adding that the country introduced only six new products to its export basket between 2008 and 2023.
“Because of our current position, the Harvard Atlas concluded that we are positioned to take advantage of very few opportunities to diversify using what we already know,” he said.
He urged Nigeria to draw lessons from countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, South Africa and Brazil, noting that nations that successfully transitioned to prosperity did so by deliberately building economic complexity.
“When we compare these countries over the same 25-year period, the path to success is remarkably consistent. It is defined by a clear strategy to build productive capabilities and economic complexity,” Adedeji said.
He highlighted Vietnam’s success in integrating into global value chains by positioning itself as an assembly hub for electronics, importing high-tech components while exporting finished products, thereby acquiring technology and management skills.
By contrast, Adedeji said Nigeria remains largely a supplier of raw materials to global value chains, rather than an active participant within them.
He warned that over-reliance on natural resources creates economic and political incentives that discourage the long-term work required to build a strong industrial base, citing South Africa and Brazil as examples of countries that lost industrial competitiveness due to resource dependence.
“For Nigeria, which is even less diversified, the warning is stark. Relying solely on our natural endowments is not just a path to stagnation; it is a path to regression,” he said.
Adedeji stressed that the global economy increasingly rewards knowledge, innovation and complexity, rather than the extraction of raw materials, adding that Nigeria must reposition itself as a source of ideas and advanced products.
He also noted that President Bola Tinubu has begun the difficult task of rebuilding the economy to support innovation, production and resilience.
“The journey from potential to prosperity is not a short one, but with the right strategy and determination, it is a journey Nigeria can finally complete,” Adedeji concluded.
