The Founder and CEO of MSME Africa, Mr. Seye Olurotimi, has called for a strategic, quality-focused approach to local sourcing among Nigerian micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs), stressing that the “Go Local” movement must be built on competitiveness rather than sentiment.
Olurotimi spoke recently at Harbour Point in VI, , Lagos at the Go Local Summit 2025, organised by BusinessDay. The session, themed “The Go Local Economy: Financing, Distributing, and Marketing for Scale,” examined practical models for strengthening local industries through financing, logistics, and supply-chain optimisation.
Responding to a question on the frameworks MSMEs can adopt to audit and improve their local material sourcing for both quality and cost efficiency, Olurotimi warned that the current poor perception of locally made products shows that more work must be done.
“Going local is not just about being patriotic because that’s what comes to everyone’s mind,” he said. “We are going local because we want to be strategic and to also make profit.”
He noted that despite the national push for local patronage, consumer trust remains fragile due to concerns about quality.
“If you are going local and your quality is terrible, there is a problem,” he stated. “If in the mind of an average person, ‘Made in Nigeria’ or ‘Made in Aba’ still depicts inferior products, then it means we are not doing our work well.”
Olurotimi also addressed the cost barriers that often discourage MSMEs from choosing Nigerian suppliers, pointing out that local sourcing must become economically competitive to gain mass adoption.
“What is the gain in buying locally when it is more expensive than importing from China?” he asked. “It all boils down to us in Nigeria.”
According to him, Nigeria must strengthen its local ecosystem from raw material availability to production efficiency and distribution to make “going local” a practical advantage rather than a financial burden.
The summit, themed “Go Local: From Raw Potential to Market Power,” convened industry leaders, policymakers, financiers, artisans, and manufacturers to discuss the future of local industries and the role of domestic consumption in strengthening the naira and expanding economic opportunities.
Olurotimi’s remarks reinforced the need for Nigerian MSMEs to prioritise quality upgrades, consumer trust, and cost-effective production if the country’s local content drive is to translate into sustainable growth.
