Market News
‘Nigeria must build competitive industries, promote value addition to compete globally’
By : Sulaimon Salau
The Group Chairman of the Nigeria energy Forum, Oluwole Daniel Adeuyi, has said that the future belongs to nations that add value, manufacture competitively, innovate boldly and build resilient industries.
Delivering the welcome address at the Nigeria Energy Forum 2026, Adeuyi implored stakeholders to explore practical pathways to accelerate critical minerals value addition, clean manufacturing, industrial decarbonation, sustainable infrastructure and innovation-led economic growth.
According to him, NEF 2026 theme, ‘Upscaling value addition for sustainable industralisation is a call to action because it reflects Nigeria’s and Africa’s opportunity to transform abundant resources into competitive industries, quality jobs, increased exports and sustainable prosperity.
He said that NEF 2026 is the 11th edition and over the past eleven years, NED has engaged more than 8000 global cross-sector champions and helped catalyze over $70million in investment and strategic partnership, proving that when great minds connect, transformative ideas become real projects and lasting impact.
One of the keynote speakers, the CEO of Nigeria Industries System Operator, Engr Abdu Bello, represented by GM, Research, Engr Deji Ojo, noted that Nigeria’s electricity problem is a product of failure to plan for the future. He also added that beyond talking about the amount of energy being generated efforts must be geared towards how the megawatt being generated translates to economic use which is what matter most.
Also commenting, NEF 2026 Co-Chair, Engr Adekunle Makinde, said the platform has not just been a talk shop as concerted efforts had been made to translate ideas generate at the forum into action. “For us, over the years, it is not just talk. It is working the talk. It is putting in the action, and that is what we can see from the various exhibitions and even the testimonies over the years.”
Similarly, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Report on Lithium in Nigeria was launched at the event s part of efforts to enhance sustainable production, processing and value addition.
