Nigeria’s manufacturing sector added 81,174 jobs in 2025, more than double the 34,769 jobs created in 2024, marking a 133.47 percent year-on-year increase despite a sharp slowdown in the second half.
The surge in employment was driven by a recovery in factory activity in the first half, supported by a more stable exchange rate for imported inputs, improved business confidence, and a rise in manufactured exports, according to data presented by Segun Ajayi-Kadir, director-general of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, at the association’s 54th Annual General Meeting in Lagos.
Job additions totalled 62,906 in the first half of 2025, but fell to 18,268 in the second half, a decline of about 71 percent within six months, highlighting the sector’s fragile recovery.
Ajayi-Kadir said the employment situation remained “significant but unstable” in 2025, reflecting the impact of a hostile macroeconomic environment characterised by extreme cost pressures and weakened consumer demand.
“The early 2025 surge was driven by a more stable exchange rate for imported inputs, the modest recovery in business confidence and a surge in manufactured exports,” he said.
“However, the subsequent H2 slowdown and increased job losses were partly caused by escalated energy costs following global geopolitical shocks.”
The data underscores the dual nature of Nigeria’s manufacturing rebound. On a year-on-year basis, hiring recovered strongly after a weak 2024 when high inflation and foreign-exchange illiquidity forced factory closures and downsizing. On a half-yearly basis, momentum faded.
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According to MAN, the second-half slowdown was triggered by a spike in energy costs linked to global geopolitical tensions, which raised diesel and gas prices for factories already grappling with unreliable grid power.
The association said the continuous decline in consumer purchasing power also forced some firms to halt recruitment, while the cost of capital made expansion unsustainable for most.
Manufacturers spent much of 2025 self-generating power at elevated costs, with energy accounting for over 30 percent of production costs in some sub-sectors.
Interest rates remained above 30 percent for commercial loans, limiting their ability to fund new production lines and staff.
The job numbers track with broader output trends. MAN’s earlier report showed manufacturing investment jumped 102 percent to N1.33 trillion in 2025 on backward integration and fleet acquisition, but that investment was concentrated in the first half.
Experts say the 81,174 net additions suggest factories retained more contract and seasonal workers as demand briefly improved, particularly in food, beverage, and cement, which benefited from local sourcing and export orders.
The H2 drop points to hiring freezes rather than mass layoffs, as firms paused expansion plans.
For Africa’s most populous nation, where manufacturing accounts for less than 10 percent of GDP, the employment trend matters for both growth and household income. The sector is one of the largest employers outside agriculture and government.
Ajayi-Kadir said sustaining job growth will require tackling structural costs that reversed the H1 gains.
“The continuous decline in consumer purchasing power forced some firms to halt recruitment, while the prohibitively high cost of capital made expansion of most factory operations unsustainable,” he said.
MAN is pushing for measures including a stable FX window for industrial inputs, energy cost intervention, and low-interest lending for manufacturers to protect the employment recovery.
Without that, the association warned, the 133 percent yearly jump risks being a temporary rebound, with the 71 percent half-year decline signalling that underlying fragilities remain.
Josephine Okojie-Okeiyi is a journalist with over five years’ reporting experience. She writes on industry, agriculture, commodities, climate change, and environmental issues. She is fellow of Thomson Reuters Foundation and Bloomberg Media Initiative for Africa.
