Every day, ships berth at Nigeria’s seaports carrying ceramic tiles, sanitary wares, tableware and other ceramic products that will eventually find their way into homes, office buildings, hotels, hospitals and construction sites across the country.
Yet beneath the soil in many parts of Nigeria lie the very minerals needed to manufacture those products.
Vast deposits of clay, feldspar, kaolin, quartz and silica sand remain largely underutilised, even as the country spends millions of dollars importing finished ceramic products that could be produced locally.
The irony reflects a broader challenge confronting Africa’s largest economy.
While successive governments have identified industrialisation and economic diversification as priorities, experts say Nigeria continues to export opportunities for job creation, value addition and foreign exchange earnings by relying heavily on imported manufactured goods despite its abundant natural resources.
According to the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade), Nigeria imported ceramic products valued at approximately 116.4 million dollars in 2024.
Data from the World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) also show that the country imported unglazed ceramic tiles worth about 14.4 million dollars during the same period.
For industry stakeholders, the figures do not point to a shortage of raw materials, rather they reflect decades of weak industrial policies, inadequate investments and limited support for local manufacturers.
The implications extend far beyond household tiles and decorative products.
Ceramics have become an indispensable component of modern economies, finding applications in construction, electricity transmission, transportation, healthcare, telecommunications and manufacturing.
Ceramic materials are used in electrical insulators, industrial furnaces, spark plugs, brake components, water filtration systems, dental implants and several engineering applications because of their strength, durability and resistance to heat and corrosion.
With Nigeria’s housing deficit estimated in the millions and demand for infrastructure continuing to rise, experts believe the ceramics industry could become a major driver of industrial growth if the country’s abundant mineral resources are processed into finished products locally.
It was against this backdrop that stakeholders gathered at the maiden Nigeria Ceramics Investment Summit and Product Exhibition 2026 in Lagos to examine how the industry could become a catalyst for manufacturing growth, job creation and export expansion.
Speaking at the summit, the Chief Executive Officer of Epina Technologies Ltd., Prof. Eguakhide Oaikhinan, said Nigeria possessed the natural resources, technical knowledge and domestic market required to build a globally competitive ceramics industry but lacked the coordinated policies and institutional support needed to unlock its potential.
Oaikhinan, a Professor of Engineering, said the summit was conceived as a platform to bring together researchers, manufacturers, investors, financial institutions and policymakers to develop practical solutions capable of repositioning the sector.
“We want to bring people from industry, academia, banking and other sectors together for meaningful conversations and turn those conversations into execution because execution creates industries, jobs and measurable outcomes,” he said.
According to him, one of the biggest challenges confronting the industry is that many Nigerians still perceive ceramics as little more than pottery and decorative household items, overlooking its strategic importance to industrial development.
Oaikhinan explained that ceramic materials play critical roles in construction, energy, transportation, manufacturing and healthcare.
“One cannot do civil engineering and construction without ceramic tiles, bricks, sanitary wares and insulators.
“Also, we cannot effectively distribute electricity without ceramic insulators and there are dozens of ceramic components in vehicles,” he said.
Oaikhinan added that ceramics are also used in aircraft components, brake pads, spark plugs, industrial furnaces, dental materials, prosthetics, water purification systems and several manufacturing processes.
According to him, despite Nigeria’s abundant deposits of clay, feldspar, kaolin and silica sand, the country’s ceramics industry continues to struggle because of structural and policy challenges.
“The problem is that there is no national policy on ceramics. There is also inadequate specialised training and limited institutional support for the industry.
“If we fail to address these gaps, it will be difficult to build a strong ceramics industry despite the enormous resources available in the country,” he said.
He identified high production costs, unstable electricity supply, dependence on imported technology, inadequate access to affordable financing and weak collaboration between research institutions and manufacturers as some of the major constraints slowing the industry’s growth.
Oaikhinan noted that addressing those challenges would require deliberate government intervention and sustained collaboration among the public and private sectors.
According to him, strengthening local manufacturing will not only reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported ceramic products but also stimulate mining activities, deepen value addition and create employment opportunities across the production chain.
He advocated the establishment of a National Centre for Ceramic Development and Skill Acquisition to serve as a hub for research, innovation, entrepreneurship development, product testing and quality assurance.
The professor said such an institution would help develop indigenous technologies, reduce dependence on foreign expertise and improve the competitiveness of locally manufactured ceramic products.
He also appealed to government agencies, development partners, financial institutions and private investors to support the establishment of an online ceramic training platform for youths and women.
According to him, expanding access to technical and entrepreneurial skills will encourage more Nigerians to participate in ceramic production while promoting self-employment and small business development.
“Ceramics is not merely a creative field; it is a strategic industrial sector with enormous economic potential,” he said.
Oaikhinan stressed that the industry had the capacity to support Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda through its contributions to housing delivery, infrastructure development, electricity transmission, manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, water supply systems and even the creative economy.
He maintained that with the right policy environment and sustained investment, Nigeria could gradually reduce its dependence on imported ceramic products while positioning itself as a major manufacturing hub on the continent.
Also speaking, the Africa Regional Representative of System Ceramics, Italy, Mr Ali Abozekry, described Africa as the next frontier for global ceramic manufacturing because of its abundant mineral resources, expanding population and rising infrastructure investments.
Abozekry said increasing urbanisation across the continent was driving demand for housing, commercial buildings, shopping malls, hotels and other infrastructure projects, all of which required significant quantities of ceramic products.
According to him, Nigeria is particularly well positioned to benefit from that growing demand because of its large population, expanding construction sector and availability of raw materials.
“Africa is the future of ceramic manufacturing because the raw materials are here and the manpower is here.
“Nigeria has a growing demand for ceramic tiles and construction materials, and we expect the country to become a leader in ceramic manufacturing across Africa,” he said.
Abozekry said greater investment in local manufacturing would not only reduce imports but also strengthen regional supply chains and position Nigeria to serve neighbouring African markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He added that technology transfer and stronger partnerships between local manufacturers and international equipment suppliers would also improve production efficiency and product quality.
Similarly, Dr John Isemede, former Director General of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), said that the ceramics industry’s challenges are symptomatic of a much broader problem confronting Nigeria’s industrial sector.
He said although the country possessed more than 40 commercially viable solid minerals, it had continued to export raw materials while importing finished products at far higher costs.
“Today, a substantial percentage of the ceramic tiles, sanitary wares and related products used in Nigeria are imported despite the availability of local raw materials.
“The challenge is that we are not adding value. When you fail to add value, you are essentially creating jobs and wealth for other countries,” he said.
Isemede said Nigeria’s inability to process its mineral resources locally had weakened manufacturing, reduced export earnings and limited employment opportunities.
According to him, many manufacturing companies that once operated successfully in Nigeria have either shut down or significantly reduced production because of multiple taxation, poor infrastructure, inadequate industrial incentives and limited access to competitive financing.
He stressed that improving transport infrastructure, electricity supply, access to finance and logistics would significantly improve the competitiveness of local manufacturers.
The former NACCIMA director-general also called for policies that encourage domestic production, strengthen export infrastructure and promote greater collaboration between industry and research institutions.
“The take-home message is that Nigeria has the raw materials, but we do not have the institutions and manpower required to maximise their value.
“That is where government, industry and educational institutions must concentrate their efforts,” he said.
Analysts say the concerns raised at the summit reflected a growing consensus that Nigeria’s industrial future would depend largely on its ability to process more of its abundant natural resources instead of exporting them in raw form.
They argue that the ceramics industry presented a unique opportunity because the country already possessed the essential ingredients for success, including abundant raw materials, a large domestic market, increasing demand from the construction sector and a strategic location that provided access to regional markets.
They, however, cautioned that these advantages could only translate into sustainable industrial growth through consistent government policies, reliable electricity supply, improved infrastructure, increased investment in research and innovation, access to affordable financing and stronger partnerships between universities, research institutes and manufacturers.
For many stakeholders, unlocking the potential of Nigeria’s ceramics industry is not simply about producing more tiles or sanitary wares.
It is about building an integrated manufacturing ecosystem that supports mining, engineering, logistics, construction and exports while creating thousands of skilled jobs for young Nigerians.
As the country continues to search for new sources of economic growth beyond crude oil, many believe the answer may lie beneath its own soil.
Whether Nigeria succeeds in transforming its abundant ceramic minerals into factories, skilled employment, export earnings and sustainable industrial development will not only depend on the availability of resources, but on the resolve to convert those resources into lasting economic value. NAN
