Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu plans to sign an executive order that will prioritize the procurement of goods and services from local firms, a move that bears some semblance to President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda that champions US interests.
The order will seek to change how the government spends money, procures and grows the economy, Nigeria’s Information Minister Mohammed Idris Malagi said at a briefing in Abuja, the capital on Monday. “The Bureau of Public Procurement has been immediately directed to revise and enforce procurement guidelines to prioritize locally made goods and homegrown solutions,” Idris said.
If implemented, the order would direct a significant proportion of the nation’s 54.99 trillion ($34.3 billion) planned expenditure this year to local manufacturers and service providers, providing them with a huge boost.
The policy will ensure that no foreign goods or services can be procured if they are available locally without “written waiver from the Bureau for Public Procurement,” Idris said. “This is a major shift in government policy aiming to put Nigeria at the heart of all our businesses in this country.”
