The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has called for tighter regulatory scrutiny of foreign nationals operating in Nigeria’s retail and distributive trade, warning that their growing presence could put pressure on local businesses and employment.
The CPPE Chief Executive Officer, Muda Yusuf, raised the concern in a statement on Sunday, particularly highlighting the increasing participation of foreign traders, including Chinese nationals, in segments of the retail market where Nigerian businesses already have significant capacity.
Yusuf said the trend was becoming noticeable across several areas of the economy, including textiles and fabrics, ICT products and accessories, automobile spare parts and tyres, electrical products, plumbing materials, household goods, as well as other consumer and industrial products.
“The increasing penetration of foreign traders into the retail segment therefore deserves urgent policy attention,” he said.
According to Yusuf, the distributive trade sector remains a major pillar of Nigeria’s employment landscape, accounting for an estimated 27.5 per cent of the country’s workforce.
He said the sector was particularly important to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), many of which depend on trading activities for their livelihoods.
The CPPE chief said the growing presence of foreign traders was coming at a difficult time for Nigerian businesses, which are already contending with high financing costs, unemployment, poverty and weak consumer purchasing power.
“There have also been protests and complaints by traders in some major commercial markets. These developments should not be ignored,” Yusuf said.
CPPE Clarifies Position on China
Yusuf stressed that the organisation’s concerns should not be interpreted as opposition to Chinese investment or Nigeria’s broader economic relationship with China.
“China remains one of Nigeria’s most important trading partners and the leading source of the country’s imports,” the CPPE chief said.
“Nigerian businesses have longstanding commercial relationships with Chinese manufacturers, exporters and major distributors.”
Rather, he said, the concern centred on what he described as the increasing movement of some foreign suppliers and traders downstream into retail activities where Nigerian entrepreneurs have already established businesses and expertise.
“A situation where overseas manufacturers or major suppliers sell products to Nigerian importers and distributors, and subsequently establish operations that compete directly with those same businesses at the retail end of the market, creates legitimate concerns about market structure and fair competition,” he said.
Yusuf argued that the issue was therefore one of market structure, regulatory enforcement and the protection of fair competition rather than a rejection of foreign investment.
CPPE Seeks Review of Business Permits, Expatriate Quotas
The organisation called for a review of the business permits, expatriate quotas, immigration approvals and other authorisations granted to foreign nationals operating in Nigeria’s retail and distributive trade.
Yusuf said expatriate quotas were intended primarily to address areas where specialised skills and expertise were unavailable locally.
“Expatriate quotas should principally facilitate the entry of skills, expertise and capabilities that are scarce or unavailable locally,” he said.
“They should not become instruments for displacing Nigerians from economic activities where substantial domestic competence already exists.”
He said retail trading was generally not a specialised activity requiring scarce foreign expertise, questioning whether the current regulatory and immigration framework was adequately addressing the growing participation of non-Nigerians in the sector.
The CPPE chief called for stronger enforcement of existing investment and immigration regulations, as well as investigations into complaints raised by Nigerian traders.
He also advocated clearer rules governing foreign participation across the distributive trade value chain and greater coordination among immigration, investment, trade and labour authorities.
‘Foreign Investment Should Support Industrialisation’
Yusuf further proposed that expatriate quotas should be linked to demonstrable skills shortages and specialised competencies within the Nigerian economy.
He said the policy would allow Nigeria to continue benefiting from foreign capital and expertise while ensuring that investment contributes to broader economic development objectives.
“For clarity, the CPPE is not calling for arbitrary restrictions or hostility towards foreign investors but a consistent and credible enforcement of existing laws, transparent rules and a clearly defined investment policy,” he said.
Yusuf said Nigeria should continue to welcome foreign investment, particularly in sectors where the country needs additional capital, technology and technical expertise.
He identified manufacturing, infrastructure, technology, agro-processing, mining, energy and logistics as areas where foreign investment could contribute significantly to economic development.
By contrast, he argued that basic retail activities should not become a major avenue for foreign participation where Nigerian businesses already possess substantial capacity.
Yusuf said Nigeria’s investment policy should therefore remain open to international investors while also taking into account the country’s employment needs, enterprise development objectives and industrialisation priorities.
The CPPE’s position comes amid broader concerns about the operating environment for Nigerian businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, and the ability of domestic firms to compete effectively in an increasingly integrated market.