This book constitutes a critical review of Nigeria's attempts to achieve
rapid industrial development since independence from Britain in 1960. It
details the issues, challenges, and hard choices confronted by Nigerian
political leadership and highlights the reasons why the country
ultimately failed to achieve industrial take-off in spite of its
abundant human and material resources.
Chapters take a retrospective look at government industrial development
policies and programs, including the steel industry, agro-allied and
forest-based industries, and the industrial estate development program.
The book also discusses tariff and trade policies, incentives and
disincentives to foreign direct investment (FDI) in the manufacturing
sector, and small and medium enterprise (SME) development. The book
concludes with a look at the recent drive towards regional integration
as well as the potential impact of the Economic Partnership Agreement
(EPA) between the European Union and sixteen countries of West Africa.
Providing an exhaustive history of Nigeria's economic and industrial
development, this volume will be of interest to researchers and students
of African economics, development studies, and industrial organization,
as well as policy makers in both the public and private sectors.