About 10,000 jobs in Nigeria’s agro-processing sector are under threat following the Federal Government’s import duty waiver on rice and other staple grains. The Organised Private Sector, led by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), have warned.
While the policy has helped ease food inflation, both organisations have however stressed the urgent need for balanced measures to protect local producers and sustain the industry.
The import duty waiver, introduced late last year as a strategic emergency response to soaring food inflation—which reached a staggering 40.53% in April 2024, was intended to increase the supply of staple grains like rice, maize, and sorghum, and reduce market prices. This move also aimed to cushion the impact of insecurity, flooding, and foreign exchange scarcity on food availability.
Data from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) indicate that between January and April 2025, prices of imported parboiled rice dropped by about 12.5%, providing some relief to consumers across the country.
However, the LCCI, through its Director-General Dr. Chinyere Almona, cautioned that the policy’s unintended consequences are seriously threatening Nigeria’s fragile agro-processing industry.
“While the government’s intentions are commendable, the resulting pressure from cheaper imports has led rice millers to operate at just 40 to 50 percent of their capacity due to increased competition and poor local paddy supply,” she said.
“If this trend continues unchecked, we estimate that over 10,000 jobs could be lost, affecting thousands of Nigerian families and undermining years of investment in local value chains.”
Dr. Almona called for a comprehensive recalibration of the import waiver regime, proposing policy tools such as time-bound waivers of 90 to 120 days activated only during harvest shortfalls, buffer stock programmes to buy from local producers during bumper harvests, and import-linked local procurement quotas requiring importers to source a portion of their grains locally in exchange for waivers.
She further recommended targeted subsidies and preferential foreign exchange windows for local millers to cushion production costs amid the naira’s depreciation—over 45% between 2023 and 2024—and tariff differentiation that imposes zero duty on raw grains but higher tariffs on semi-processed imports to encourage local value addition.
On the other side, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) defended the Federal Government’s move as a necessary and temporary emergency intervention. Dr. Muda Yusuf, CPPE’s Chief Executive and former LCCI Director-General, affirmed that the import duty waiver was a one-off policy introduced during the peak of the food crisis and has since expired as of December 2024.
“The government must balance the welfare of consumers and the viability of investors,” Yusuf stated. “You cannot allow profiteering to the detriment of people’s food security, nor can you sacrifice local industry survival. The waiver was an emergency lifeline, and its effects are now fading as supply chains stabilize.”
“After some time, the impact of all waived consignments will fade away, and the market will correct itself. Things are already beginning to stabilize,” he added.
On the competing interests between food security and domestic investment, the CPPE boss reiterated the importance of policy balancing, arguing that while private sector growth is critical, public welfare must not be sacrificed, especially in times of national crisis.
“We understand the investors’ concerns—many have committed significant capital to rice milling and local production,” Yusuf noted. “But when you are faced with a serious food crisis, the government must act to protect citizens. That’s what they did, the government has a responsibility to strike a balance between the welfare of the people and the profitability of investors.”
Yusuf encouraged local producers to see beyond immediate challenges and collaborate with government to foster a more resilient agro-processing sector through improved infrastructure, access to affordable finance, and efficient regulation.
