The Federal Government’s renewed drive to curb tyre imports and stimulate domestic production is drawing cautious optimism from industry stakeholders, many of whom warn that the same structural weaknesses that pushed out global manufacturers years ago remain largely unresolved.
Nigeria once hosted major tyre producers, including Michelin and Dunlop, as well as battery maker Exide. But a mix of infrastructure gaps, energy challenges and policy shifts forced them to shut down local operations, leaving a void that has yet to be filled.
Familiar Challenges Resurface
Industry experts say the current push to restrict imports risks repeating history if longstanding bottlenecks are not addressed.
“Giants like Michelin and Dunlop were driven out by a perfect storm of volatile power grids that ruined production batches and a sudden tariff drop from 40 percent to 10 percent that made local manufacturing uncompetitive,” Oloruntoba Anate, CEO and co-founder of Automat Hub Ltd., told BusinessDay.
According to Anate, high energy costs, inconsistent policies, weak enforcement against substandard imports and foreign exchange instability remain critical threats to any meaningful revival of tyre manufacturing.
“While there are some local players, we currently don’t have the scale to meet total national demand for high-quality tyres and specialised vehicle batteries if imports were cut off tomorrow,” he said, noting that building competitive industrial capacity could take three to six years under the right investment climate.
Muda Yusuf, chief executive officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), echoed similar concerns. He stressed that boosting domestic production is a laudable goal but must be grounded in structural reforms.
“In the past, we used to produce tyres. We had Michelin, we had Dunlop, we also produced batteries like Exide, but they all went under,” Yusuf said. He identified energy costs, logistics inefficiencies, limited access to affordable financing and raw material sourcing constraints as key issues policymakers must resolve before imposing sweeping import restrictions.
Import Dependence Deepens
Despite previous attempts to strengthen local industry, Nigeria’s reliance on imported tyres remains pronounced.
Data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity shows that Nigeria spent $351 million on tyre imports in 2024, ranking it the 50th largest importer globally. The bulk of those imports came from China ($302 million), followed by India, Thailand, Japan and Germany.
Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics also reveal that the country imported N3.4 billion worth of plastic and rubber products in 2024 — key inputs in tyre manufacturing — underscoring the heavy dependence on foreign supply chains.
Consumer Preference for Used Tyres
Compounding the challenge is strong consumer demand for fairly used, or “Tokunbo,” tyres, which are significantly cheaper than new products.
Vehicle tyre retailers say foreign brands dominate the market. “I sell only foreign tyres and not Nigerian-made tyres, because locally made ones are not moving market,” a retailer, Tobax Tyre and Rim, told BusinessDay.
Analysts warn that abrupt import restrictions could trigger immediate price hikes. With local capacity unable to meet demand, reduced supply would likely raise transportation costs — a development with broader inflationary consequences in an economy heavily reliant on road transport.
“In the short term, restrictions would almost certainly trigger a price hike,” Anate said. “Higher logistics costs for goods could lead to increased food prices and general inflation. For car owners, it could also lead to an influx of low-quality, refurbished alternatives, which brings up safety concerns.”
Call for Strategic Reform
Stakeholders argue that meaningful industrial revival will require more than border controls. Anate advocates the creation of specialised automotive component power zones, improved energy reliability and long-term foreign exchange stability to support raw material imports.
Yusuf cautioned against reactionary policymaking. “Policy should not be driven by emotions or sentiments,” he said. “It has to be driven by evidence of sustainability and evidence that such restrictions will not impose additional burden on Nigerians.”
As the government weighs protective trade measures, experts insist that unless deep-rooted structural constraints are tackled, Nigeria’s ambition to rebuild its tyre manufacturing base may once again stall — repeating a cycle that has already cost the country major industrial players.