Modupe Kadri, Chief Financial Officer of MTN Nigeria, has called on indigenous Nigerian enterprises to look beyond protectionism and build world-class operational capabilities capable of competing on the global stage.
Speaking at the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce (NSACC) Breakfast Forum held recently at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, Kadri emphasised that sustainable domestic growth must be anchored on strict delivery discipline, innovation, and predictable market demand rather than policy entitlement.
Addressing top executives under the forum’s theme, “Building Local Content Together: 25 Years of Shared Growth,” Kadri maintained that economic empowerment requires genuine commercial synergy between multinational corporations and domestic supply chains. “Shared growth is not charity; it is not public relations. It is invited, business logic.
“It is what happens when value circulates through businesses, people, government, ownership, and communities,” Kadri stated.
He cautioned that “local content must not mean substandard quality or entitlement simply because a company is Nigerian. The goal is not protection from global competition; the goal is preparation for competition.”
Reflecting on the telecommunications sector’s evolution over the past quarter of a century, the MTN CFO noted that while the initial phase of local content focused on civil works, site setups, and distribution, the next 25 years must pivot toward high-value digital assets.
“In the first 25 years, local content was shaped by site rollouts and general logistics, but the next phase must embrace artificial intelligence, data, cloud infrastructure, 5G, and cybersecurity.”
The panel session featured prominent enterprise leaders who detailed how strategic corporate partnerships enabled domestic businesses to scale.
Panelists included Afolabi Sobande, Group COO of Computer Warehouse Group (CWG); Udeme Ufot, Group Managing Director of SO&U; Yemi Chukwurah, CEO of Seams and Stitches and Ayeni Adekunle, Founder and CEO of BlackHouse Media (BHM).
The panellists highlighted how commercial opportunities and corporate access allowed their respective firms spanning IT, corporate uniform manufacturing, and strategic communications to transition from modest operations into continental enterprises.
The session concluded with calls for institutional access, patient capital, and workforce upskilling to deepen local content.
Reaffirming its mandate on bilateral trade, the chamber noted that strengthening corporate governance and quality benchmarks remains essential to transforming Nigerian companies into world-class African competitors.
