By: Tijani Salako.

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has raised concerns over the growing encroachment of foreign nationals, especially Chinese traders, into Nigeria’s retail and distributive trade sector.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Managing Director of the institute, Dr Muda Yusuf, who noted that the development poses a threat to employment protection, fair competition, investment policy and the integrity of the country’s immigration and business permit regime.

Dr Yusuf said Nigeria’s distributive trade sector is a major source of employment and livelihoods, particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises, as millions of Nigerians depend on wholesale and retail trade across textiles and fabrics, ICT products and accessories, automobile spare parts and tyres, electrical products, plumbing materials, household goods and numerous other consumer and industrial products.

However, the sector employs an estimated 27.5 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce. Increasing penetration of foreign traders into the retail segment therefore deserves urgent policy attention.

The CPPE clarified that its concern is not about Chinese investment or Nigeria’s broader economic relationship with China, describing China as one of Nigeria’s largest trading partners and the leading source of imports into the country.

According to Yusuf, Nigerian businesses have maintained longstanding commercial relationships with Chinese manufacturers, exporters and major distributors, helping to supply machinery, industrial inputs, consumer goods, technology products and other essential items to the Nigerian economy.

He stressed that foreign investment remains important to Nigeria’s development where it brings capital, technology, industrial capacity, employment, exports and new productive capabilities.

The economist, however, argued that the growing movement of some foreign suppliers and traders into the retail segment, where Nigerians already possess substantial capacity, raises legitimate concerns about market structure and fair competition.

He explained that when overseas manufacturers or major suppliers sell products to Nigerian importers and distributors and later establish retail operations that compete directly with those same businesses, indigenous enterprises become vulnerable.

Yusuf warned that retail trade has relatively low entry barriers and provides livelihoods for millions of Nigerians through SMEs, family-owned businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs, making the sector critical to employment creation.

He noted that with the economy facing unemployment, poverty, weak consumer purchasing power, high financing costs and mounting pressure on small businesses, government policies should be sensitive to developments capable of displacing domestic enterprises.

The CPPE said reports from operators indicate that concerns over foreign participation have emerged across several markets dealing in textiles and fabrics, computers and telephone accessories, automobile spare parts, tyres and plumbing materials, adding that protests and complaints by traders in major commercial markets should not be ignored.

The organisation called on the Federal Government to undertake a comprehensive review of the regulatory framework governing foreign participation in Nigeria’s retail economy, including business permits, expatriate quotas, immigration approvals and other authorisations granted to foreign nationals.

It maintained that expatriate quotas should primarily address genuine skills shortages and specialised expertise unavailable locally, rather than being used to displace Nigerians from economic activities where sufficient domestic competence already exists.

Yusuf also urged stronger coordination among immigration, investment, trade and labour authorities, clearer guidelines on permissible foreign participation across the distributive trade value chain, and greater incentives for foreign investors to channel investments into manufacturing, technology, logistics, agro-processing, mining, infrastructure and other productive sectors instead of competing with indigenous retailers.

He added that Nigeria’s investment policy should remain open to foreign investment but be calibrated to protect jobs, support enterprise development and advance the country’s industrialisation priorities through fair competition and effective regulatory enforcement