Products Made in Aba that Should not be Imported
Nigeria continues to stall on promoting Made-in-Nigeria brands. However, China has a scale advantage that allows it to offer cheaper, faster, and more polished products.
Products in Aba. Photo: Unsplash/Artem Beliaikin
Aba’s industrial ecosystem is largely informal but highly functional. It spans raw materials sourcing, manufacturing, local distribution, inter-state export, with each stage supported by a network of skilled artisans, small businesses, and traders.
There is a long list of products that Nigeria should manufacture locally, but which are still heavily imported from China.
Household & Everyday Items
Plastic buckets, bowls, hangers — Local plastic recyclers exist, and they are widely used. Cheaper unit cost from mass production in China drives down local manufacturing.
Rechargeable lamps & fans — There is high demand due to power outages, but components are still imported because no local assembly plants.
Bedsheets & curtains — Cotton is produced locally in Kano, Katsina. However, China lures customers with better finishing and packaging technology.
Mattresses & pillows — Foam industry exists (Mouka, Vitafoam), but Low-cost alternatives drive sales for Chinese factories.
Cooking pots, pans — should be made in Nigeria because aluminium is mined in Nigeria. However, Nigeria has poor local smelting/refining systems
Toiletries & Cleaning Products
Bar soap, detergents — Palm oil & raw materials are in abundance in Nigeria but related products are still imported for brand, finish, and lower bulk cost.
Toothbrushes & combs — Simple plastic injection molding is possible within the country. However, plastic tooling & molds are apparently cheaper in China.
Baby wipes, tissues — Regardless of Nigeria’s decent paper processing plants, poor paper quality & supply chain in Nigeria remain a challenge in the counry.
Perfume bottles & containers — Despite its local glass production potential, Nigeria still gets cheaper and prettier packaging from China for these products.
Clothing, Shoes & Accessories
School uniforms — Cheaper fabric and ready-made from China are taking the business away from textile mills like United Nigeria Textiles, UNTL and Aba tailors.
Leather shoes & belts — Consumers disregard the millions annually produced in Aba for imported ones that they consider “finer” or “branded”.
Bras, socks, underwear — Low-cost, mass-production from China overshadows the local sewing skills that exist in Nigeria.
Hats, caps, gloves — Quality control and branding issues continue to degrade Aba products, even though these things are simple to make locally.
School & Office Supplies
Exercise books — Paper mills exist in Nigeria, where quality paper could be made, but they are underused. Instead, these products are imported with a better finish from China.
Ball pens, pencils — These require basic and simple assembly tech. However, most parts, ink, and rubber are sourced from China when they could all be produced here.
Staplers, punchers, rulers — Plastic/metal production is possible in Nigeria, but branding, finish, and scale favor imports.
Tools, Devices & Small Electronics
Power banks, chargers — There is a massive demand for these everyday electroc devices which can be assembled locally. However, the core technology, battery still needs to be imported.
Flashlights & bulbs — Also a high-demand product, but imports are cheaper and favour the Chinese suppliers rather than their Aba counterparts.
Extension cords — Low confidence in local quality control drives down the purchase of wire, plastic & plugs from local manufacturers.
Toys & Children’s Products
Plastic toys — Toy factories are poorly supported in Nigeria, even when these are easy to mould and have strong demand.
Board games & puzzles — Imported products like Ludo dominate shelf space even for simple products that require less packaging.
Backpacks, school bags — Aba tailors can make them, but cheaper synthetic fabric and zippers only come from China.
The main problems stem from the poor Infrastructure, unreliable electricity, poor roads, port delays, policy inconsistency with poory enforced policies.
More so, there is quality and branding gaps as Nigerian products often struggle with packaging and finishing. China’s also has scale Advantage and offers cheaper, faster, more polished products.
