The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) is positioning itself as a key driver of Nigeria’s industrialisation, with projects spanning renewable energy, biotechnology, diagnostics and advanced manufacturing. But questions remain over the extent to which its growing project pipeline has translated into sustained commercial production.
During a tour of NASENI facilities in August 2025, Industry Minister Jumoke Oduwole praised the agency’s work and said she had seen “100 per cent made-in-Nigeria products”. NASENI has also said it has more than 40 market-ready products. Those figures, however, are largely agency-reported claims and do not by themselves establish the scale of commercial sales or production.
At NASENI Solar Energy Limited in Karshi, Abuja, the agency has reported expanding annual solar-panel manufacturing capacity to about 50 megawatts from roughly 21MW, with a longer-term target of 100MW. The figure refers to manufacturing capacity rather than electricity-generation capacity.
The NASENI-Troment biotechnology facility in Abuja represents another major initiative. The factory has been designed with an annual capacity of up to 600 million diagnostic test kits covering diseases including malaria, hepatitis and HIV. NASENI has said the capacity could meet about 80 per cent of Nigeria’s diagnostic-kit requirements and that the facility could produce more than 100,000 kits a day.
However, capacity should not be confused with actual output. Reports in early 2026 indicated that the facility was undergoing regulatory processes, including inspection by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Publicly available information does not yet establish sustained production at the plant’s full stated capacity or the volume of kits being commercially sold.
Other projects remain at earlier stages. NASENI signed a 2024 memorandum of understanding with Caverton for a drone assembly plant, but there is no clear publicly available evidence that the proposed facility has entered commercial production. Similarly, the agency’s 40-hectare Renewable Energy Industrial Park at Gora in Nasarawa State was still under construction following an inspection in March 2026.
NASENI has also come under financial scrutiny. In July 2026, the House Public Accounts Committee questioned the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation over deductions from government agencies’ accounts. Committee chairman Bamidele Salam said NASENI had complained of deductions of about ₦70 billion or more. The Accountant-General, however, disputed the suggestion that the deductions were arbitrary or unlawful.
Separately, SaharaReporters, citing Govspend records, reported that NASENI paid ₦43 million on July 31, 2025, for the installation of kitchen utensils and related items at its headquarters. The payment alone does not establish wrongdoing, but it adds to calls for greater transparency around public spending.
Ultimately, NASENI’s industrialisation record will be judged not only by the number of projects announced or factories established, but by independently verifiable production volumes, capacity utilisation, regulatory approvals, commercial sales, job creation and the financial sustainability of its investments.
