Nigeria’s federal government is preparing to revise its 2025 economic blueprint in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly imposed 14% tariff on Nigerian exports, a move that threatens to disrupt over $6 billion in annual trade with America.
Finance Minister Wale Edun confirmed that the country’s economic management team is reviewing key assumptions behind the national budget, including oil price benchmarks and projected revenue flows, to mitigate fallout from rising trade tensions and safeguard the country’s fragile macroeconomic stability.
“We are going back to the drawing board to reassess our budget framework and economic assumptions,” Edun said at the Corporate Governance Forum in Abuja, hosted by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI). “There’s global uncertainty at a huge level. We must prepare for all possible outcomes.”
The tariff standoff, triggered by Nigeria’s own 27% import duty on U.S. goods, excludes oil and mineral exports, which account for 92% of Nigeria’s trade surplus with the U.S.
However, Edun warned that indirect effects, especially from oil price volatility, could ripple across the economy, further pressuring inflation and weakening the naira.
Despite the exemption, Edun hinted at a broader economic strategy reset, including efforts to increase crude oil output, strengthen non-oil revenue collection via the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Customs, and improve investment attractiveness through stable policies and governance reforms.
“With the right environment, Nigeria can become a manufacturing hub for industries relocating from higher-tariff jurisdictions like Vietnam,” Edun said. “We are here, ready, and positioned with market access, competitive exchange rates, and forward-looking policies.”
Against the backdrop of the tariff escalation, Edun also launched MOFI’s Corporate Governance Scorecard, a performance-tracking tool for Nigeria’s over 50 state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The tool aims to foster transparency, accountability, and operational efficiency—key levers for unlocking domestic economic value.
“The absence of strong governance frameworks has led to fiscal leakages, weakened investor confidence, and underperformance by SOEs,” Edun stated.
“This reform is critical to President Tinubu’s goal of transforming Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy.”
MOFI CEO Armstrong Takang highlighted that only 20 of 52 SOEs have presented audited accounts in the last three years, underlining the governance crisis.
He called for equity-based fundraising, citing models like the Bank of India’s €1.879 billion capital raise, and said a national assets register is being developed to catalog Nigeria’s holdings.
Takang described the Trump tariff fallout as a moment of introspection for Nigeria, urging public institutions to transition from inefficiency and opacity to performance and impact.
“This country is too endowed to be poor,” he stated. “We must move from debt-driven approaches to equity-based, transparent, and sustainable value creation.”
MOFI Chairman Shamsudeen Usman detailed new corporate governance codes, whistleblower protections, and a conflict-of-interest framework designed to align state enterprises with global standards.
“The objective is to make MOFI a model of ethical leadership and to maximize returns on Nigeria’s national assets,” Usman said.