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Nigeria’s economy stands on the shoulders of a silent workforce: the private security sector. Over 90 percent of Nigeria’s GDP assets, worth more than $218 billion, are protected by Private Security Companies (PSCs). Yet despite this indispensable role, the sector remains poorly regulated and disconnected from strategic economic planning.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Africa’s fourth-largest economy was valued at $252 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $450 billion in 2025. Much of this wealth depends on assets safeguarded by over 1,100 licensed firms employing more than one million corporate guards.

Beyond this, an estimated two million unlicensed guards operate informally, whilst over 750 unlicensed operators function outside regulatory frameworks. Combined with seven hundred thousand government security personnel, the entire security industry employs over four million Nigerians-one of the nation’s largest employment sectors.

The capacity paradox

The millions employed in security belie Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation. Despite this massive workforce, Nigeria ranks 148th out of 163 countries on the 2025 Global Peace Index, behind war-ravaged nations. This paradox reveals a fundamental misalignment between current capacity and potential impact.

The issue isn’t personnel shortage but policy dysfunction. When over two million guards operate outside formal frameworks, they lack standardised training, coordinated intelligence-sharing, and integration with broader security strategies. This fragmentation creates duplicated efforts, inconsistent standards, and poor information flow between sectors.

Policy misalignment also distorts economic incentives. Licensed operators investing in training and compliance face unfair competition from unlicensed entities operating at lower costs.

This race to the bottom stunts professional growth, discourages innovation, and limits financing access. The result: an industry contributing below 0.1 per cent to GDP despite protecting over 90 per cent of GDP assets.

Current regulatory tools limit authorities to addressing symptoms rather than providing strategic impetus for scaling. The prevailing posture regiments the private sector through compliance oversight rather than implementing reforms that fuel innovation.

This constraint stems largely from the absence of a dedicated industry commission to align federal policies with sector potential.

South Africa’s transformation blueprint

South Africa demonstrates how comprehensive reform unlocks exponential growth. Facing similar challenges in the early 2000s, fragmented industry, unregistered operators, limited state integration, South Africa passed the Private Security Industry Regulation Act (PSIRA) in 2001. This established a robust regulatory authority with clear enforcement powers, mandatory registration and training, integrated databases linking private security with law enforcement, and provisions for armed response under strict oversight.

Within a decade, South Africa’s private security industry grew from approximately $8 billion to over $26 billion, becoming Africa’s largest. The reform catalysed innovation, with South African firms becoming regional leaders in biometric access control, drone surveillance, AI-powered threat detection, and integrated command systems. Today, South African PSCs export services across Africa whilst employing over 600,000 registered personnel.

Nigeria’s licensed private security sector of over one million guards already possesses nearly double South Africa’s entire registered workforce. If Nigeria’s regulatory framework were modernised with similar tools, formalising even half the informal sector could add $5-10 billion to GDP within five years, whilst dramatically improving security outcomes.

Export potential in an unstable region

In an increasingly anarchical sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria’s security industry holds significant untapped export potential. Regional demand for professional security services, technology solutions, and trained personnel presents strategic opportunities that should be reform’s primary focus.

South African firms dominate regional exports because their regulatory framework enables scaling, innovation, and international competition. Nigerian firms remain largely confined domestically despite possessing comparable human capital and market understanding-constrained by outdated regulations and lacking coordinated government support.

An industry-focused re-engineering could transform this by developing export promotion strategies, facilitating technology transfer, coordinating with diplomatic missions to open regional markets, and establishing quality standards, enhancing Nigeria’s competitive position. If even a quarter of the informal workforce were formalised and professionalised, Nigeria could field a private security sector larger than most African nations’ combined military and police forces.

The reform agenda

The 1986 Private Guard Companies Act, crafted in a pre-digital era, requires comprehensive modernisation. Priority reforms include:

– Updated legislative authority reflecting modern threats-cybersecurity, drone surveillance, AI-assisted monitoring

– Enhanced enforcement capacity to formalise two million unlicensed guards and eliminate 750 unlicensed operators

– Structured collaboration frameworks between PSCs and state agencies for intelligence sharing and crisis coordination

– Regulatory provisions for specialised services, including controlled armed protection of critical infrastructure

– Fiscal incentives for AI, IoT devices, drone surveillance, and cloud-based command systems

– Security Technology Innovation Fund to nurture research and development in indigenous surveillance and analytics solutions

The path forward

As of October 2025, Nigeria’s GDP stands at N372.8 trillion ($243.3 billion), with services contributing 58.04 percent and non-oil accounting for 94.43 percent. As the economy diversifies, safeguarding expanding assets, from fintech to logistics and telecoms, requires a robust, technology-enabled security ecosystem.

The private security sector has proven its capacity to scale and absorb employment. What’s needed now is updated legislative authority and institutional frameworks enabling both effective regulation and strategic industry development. This requires establishing an industry commission to align policy with potential, facilitate the formalisation of informal operators, and position Nigerian firms for regional market leadership.

If Nigeria hopes to achieve its $1 trillion economy target, it must address the foundational challenge of security-not only strengthening regulatory oversight but transforming the sector from an informally structured necessity into a professionally managed pillar of national stability and economic growth.

The framework exists; what’s required is political will to modernise it and institutional capacity to execute a comprehensive transformation.

The security industry has significant potential to contribute more substantially to Nigeria’s economy and stability. Realising this potential requires comprehensive reform addressing both regulatory gaps and strategic development needs.

The Akwa Ibom state chapter of the Action People Party, APP, has launched a sensitisation project, tagged Operation Cut Across Parties.

Speaking during the event, which was held at the state secretariat of the party in Uyo, on Monday, State Chairman of the party, Kingsley Akaiso, said the initiative was informed by the need to foster unity and peace among members of different political parties.

He, however, agreed that political parties pursue different interests, but said ‘these goals should not consume brotherhood and friendship.

While we chase our different political goals, we should also remember that we have no other state than Akwa Ibom.

We should play politics of development, unity and love. Above all, we should support the government at all levels, irrespective of the political party in power, to attract the much-needed dividends of democracy.

He said the sensitisation project will be held across the ten Federal constituencies of the state on different dates, even as he solicited support and encouragement from different political parties to make the exercise a success.

The Chairman lauded President Tinubu on performance and appealed for the completion of Ibom Deep Seaport, which he believed will expand the economy of the state and the region.

In the same vein, he lauded Governor Umo Eno for his inclusive governance and peace mission, which, according to him, has contributed to the political stability and peaceful coexistence in Akwa Ibom.

Finally, he appealed to the Governor for continued peace and inclusive governance in the state.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has destroyed expired and substandard consumables valued at about N25 million in Kaduna State as part of efforts to protect public health and uphold product quality standards.

The items, which included 230 bags of expired sugar, soft drinks, milk, tomato paste, and insecticides, were destroyed at a designated site outside the state capital on Friday.

Speaking during the exercise, Adamu Ahmed, SON’s deputy director for the North-West Region, said the products failed to meet the agency’s quality and safety benchmarks.

‘We are here to destroy substandard products that did not comply with required standards. This is to ensure consumers do not unknowingly use items that could endanger their health,’ Ahmed said.

He explained that all 230 bags of sugar had expired and failed laboratory conformity tests, rendering them unsafe for consumption. Ahmed noted that the destruction exercise aligns with SON’s mandate to safeguard lives through standardisation and quality assurance.

‘This sends a strong message to manufacturers, importers, and distributors that SON will not compromise on quality. Substandard products pose clear danger to consumers,’ he added.

Ahmed said the confiscation followed SON’s rigorous conformity assessment process, which identified the products as health risks. He added that such enforcement actions were designed to build consumer confidence and ensure only quality goods reach Nigerian markets.

The SON official commended compliant manufacturers and importers while urging others to align with national standards. He also acknowledged the collaboration of agencies including the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Kaduna Environmental Protection Authority (KEPA), and the Kaduna State Government.

‘This destruction serves as a warning to those dealing in substandard goods. We will not relent in enforcing quality compliance,’ Ahmed said.

Also speaking, Hena Dangari, NESREA’s State Coordinator, praised SON for its consistency in safeguarding consumers from unsafe products, describing the exercise as evidence of effective inter-agency cooperation.

‘We are glad to witness this disposal of seized substandard items. It shows SON’s dedication to consumer protection,’ he said.

Dangari advised Nigerians to report suspicious products to regulatory agencies, stressing that public vigilance was key to reducing health and environmental risks. He also cautioned against the use of single-use plastics, noting that NESREA is working with other agencies to enforce the national ban on such materials in public and private institutions.

In his remarks, Yahya Victor, general manager of KEPA, represented by Thelma Peters, director of Pollution Control and Laboratory Services, commended SON for its collaboration with state agencies.

‘We share a common goal of protecting public health and promoting environmental sustainability, and KEPA will continue to support SON’s efforts,’ he said.

Emomotimi Agama, Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has applauded Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, describing it as a clear reflection of the country’s renewed policy direction and commitment to transparency.

FATF on Friday announced the delisting of Nigeria from its grey list of countries with deficiencies in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks.

Speaking during a television programme, Agama, said the development would significantly enhance investor confidence and attract more foreign investments.

‘It means so much for us in the capital market; it means so much for us in the financial system. It brings about something that we have been craving for – investor confidence.

‘The release of Nigeria from the FATF grey list means that investor confidence would be boosted. Delisting from that grey list sends a very strong signal to investors and trading partners that Nigeria has made significant progress in strengthening its anti-money laundering and countering of financing of terrorism regulations,’ Agama said.

He described the delisting as a ‘welcome call to new investments,’ saying it would further strengthen productivity and growth in the Nigerian economy.

After implementing a 19-point action plan, the FATF removed Nigeria from the list more than two years later, acknowledging the country’s progress in tightening its AML/CFT framework.

Agama described the development as a major milestone in Nigeria’s journey towards economic reform, institutional integrity, and global credibility and commended Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and her team for their diligence in implementing the country’s action plan.

According to him, ‘The NFIU was in the fore front of this initiative and we commend their commitment which has earned Nigeria global recognition for its strengthened institutional framework to tackle financial crimes’

He also praised the efforts of the National Security Adviser, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Ministers of Aviation, Budget and Economic Planning, Defense, Foreign Affairs, Solid Minerals, and State for Finance, as well as the leadership of the National Assembly and the Judiciary.

The appointment of new service chiefs is seen as a major step towards reducing the rising spate of terrorism in the nation.

President Bola Tinubu, last week, appointed Olufemi Oluyede as the new chief of defence staff, sacking Christopher Musa.

Oluyede will now oversee the coordination of all military operations across the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

He also appointed Waidi Shuaibu as the new chief of army staff. While Sunday Kelvin Aneke is the new chief of air staff, Idi Abbas is the chief of naval staff.

The appointments have attracted mixed feelings from security chiefs, with some saying that the new officers have the capacity to quell the growing spate of terrorism in the country, and others sensing politics.

Shehu Sadeeq, a retired military officer, said the president’s decision to keep changing military leadership appears to be a continuous effort to find capable hands who can deliver results.

‘What the president is doing is to continue searching until he finds people that can complete the job,’ Sadeeq said, noting that the new appointees should be given time to prove themselves.

Sadeeq stressed that genuine progress against insecurity requires honest communication between the armed forces and the nation’s political leadership.

He accused some military officers of being too diplomatic when briefing the president, instead of presenting the true picture of operational realities.

‘A soldier is not a politician. When you meet the President and Commander-in-Chief, tell him what you need. You are not a magician. Stop giving false hope,’ he said.

He noted that Nigeria’s armed forces remain grossly under-resourced both in manpower and equipment, describing the current troop strength as ‘far from adequate.’

Sadeeq criticised the long-standing practice of redeploying soldiers from one hotspot to another, saying it only shifts insecurity rather than addressing it.

‘If they attack Zamfara, troops are moved there from Zaria or Borno. But when Zaria is attacked, where will they move troops from again? We’re just chasing shadows,’ he said.

Ishaq Monguno, a retired naval officer, said he trusts the president’s capacity to appoint men who can deliver results.

‘No matter what the reasons are, you cannot keep doing one thing over and over and expect a different result. The president was right in changing them at this time. With new people come new strength, new desires and new methodologies to fight terrorism and rising insecurity in the nation.’

Politics is paramount

However, Auwal Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), warned that Nigeria’s growing tendency to retire well-trained and experienced military officers for political reasons is undermining the strength, discipline, and professionalism of the armed forces.

Rafsanjani, who spoke with BusinessDay while assessing recent changes in the nation’s security leadership, said politically-motivated retirements erode institutional memory, waste years of investment in training, and weaken the country’s overall defence capability.

He urged the government to prioritise merit, competence, and continuity over political considerations in future military appointments, stressing that such arbitrary decisions are detrimental to national security.

‘We cannot keep wasting billions training officers only to retire them for political reasons. The younger recruits cannot replace that level of experience overnight,’ he warned.

On the recent appointment of new service chiefs, the CISLAC boss said President Bola Tinubu acted within his constitutional powers, explaining that military appointments typically run for two to three years.

However, he cautioned that mass retirements driven by politics, rather than performance, weaken institutional capacity and disrupt command stability.

Rafsanjani noted that Nigeria’s insecurity will persist unless the government addresses deep-rooted issues such as corruption in defence procurement, poor military welfare, and lack of coordination among security agencies.

He criticised the persistent corruption in defence spending, saying that despite huge budgetary allocations, there is little evidence of modern equipment, adequate logistics, or improved operational readiness among troops.

‘The alleged corruption in defence procurements has not been addressed. The provision for modern equipment and facilities to confront insecurity has not been met despite the military allocations,’ he said.

The CISLAC chief also decried the poor welfare and motivation of security personnel, pointing to unresolved issues around promotions, training, and retraining.

He warned that neglecting troop welfare undermines morale and operational effectiveness.

He called for a clearer definition of roles among security agencies and stronger cooperation, coordination, and intelligence-sharing frameworks.

Beyond structural overlaps, Rafsanjani expressed concern over weak border management and rising oil theft, accusing relevant agencies such as the Nigeria Customs Service of failing to stop the smuggling of arms and crude oil.

Emmanuel Onwubiko, national coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), accused the president of removing the former service chiefs for political and personal reasons.

He claimed the shake-up was more about self-preservation than tackling insecurity.

‘I don’t believe the president changed the service chiefs because of insecurity. He did it for selfish interests, out of fear of a possible coup,’ Onwubiko alleged.

He argued that if the decision were truly about improving national security, the president would have also sacked the Inspector-General of Police, whom he described as ineffective.

He argued that Nigeria’s security challenges remain complex, requiring not just leadership changes but also deeper reforms, particularly in funding, manpower, and strategic coordination, across the nation’s security institutions.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disbursed a total of $1.25 billion for importation purposes in the oil and gas sector during the first quarter of 2025, according to the Bank’s latest quarterly report.

The figure underscores Nigeria’s continued dependence on imported petroleum products despite being Africa’s largest oil producer.

Breakdown of the report shows that $457.83 million was released in January, $283.54 million in February, and $517.55 million in March 2025.

A BusinessDay analysis of the data indicates that the total amount represents over a 100 percent increase from the $522.9 million released for the same purpose between January and March 2024. However, it marks a decline from the $2.26 billion disbursed for oil sector imports between January and December 2024.

Similarly, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) recently reported that Nigeria imported about 15.01 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) from August 2024 to the first 10 days of October 2025.

Speaking to BusinessDay on the development, energy analyst Zakka Bala said Nigeria’s persistent reliance on imported refined petroleum products despite its substantial crude oil production reflects a flawed government approach.

He argued that the country has long operated an import-dependent model, which is contradictory for a major oil-producing nation.

‘You cannot be producing crude oil and at the same time importing the refined product derived from that same crude,’ Bala said.

Citing countries such as the United States, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, which prioritize refining their own crude, Bala emphasised that Nigeria’s system is ‘completely wrong,’ adding that the government must boost domestic refining capacity to meet local demand.

The CBN report further showed that $2.31 billion was released for industrial sector imports in the same period, representing the highest sectoral allocation.

Additionally, $550.09 million was disbursed for food imports, $142.83 million for the transport sector, $59.06 million for the mineral sector, and $57.2 million for agriculture, the lowest allocation among the sectors between January and March 2025.

On 26 August 2025, Nigeria announced a six-month halt on exports of raw shea nuts. By then, we had mobilised private financing, signed export contracts, and trained our partner farmers to gather, sort, crack, and dry shea kernels, the semi-processed step before butter. Overnight, working capital sat idle, and shipment timelines snapped.

A quick note on definitions: Raw shea nuts are the uncracked fruit; shea kernels are the dried, de-hulled seed; shea butter is the extracted fat. The ban targeted nuts, but its intent, to push more value-addition at home, spilled over to operators like us who export kernels to long-established overseas processors.

Nigeria sits on one of the world’s largest shea belts, yet we’re underrepresented in global shea value chains. The instinct to build domestic capacity is right. But timing and execution matter. By mid-June (mid-season for us), processor quotas, budgets and offtake plans were already locked. There was no practical pivot to domestic processors at that point without breaking other contracts.

This isn’t the first time Nigeria has tried to steer markets with hard stops. From the Hides and Skins framework (1940s) to the land-border closure in 2019-20 to the maize-export criminalisation bill in late 2024, the logic is familiar: keep raw materials at home, fight leakage, and build local industry. But the reasons sudden export restrictions underperform haven’t changed:

1) We have a production problem: Our yields are chronically lower when compared to our peers because most production is smallholder-led and underserved. Grants and NGO projects help at the margins, but scale demands season-fit extension, drying/quality infrastructure, and reliable aggregation.

2) We have a financial problem: Appropriate working capital remains scarce. Flagship schemes that should have filled the gap (e.g., Anchor Borrowers Scheme) faltered on governance and recoveries. Cheap credit without discipline, offtake and enforcement is not finance.

3) We have an incentives problem: When cross-border arbitrage pays and borders are porous, blanket bans tend to divert rather than develop trade. Informal traders route around policy; formal operators eat the friction.

At Aké Collective, we built around those realities: a lean, farmer-led model where women’s cooperatives act as primary processors and community aggregators. It keeps overheads low, quality high, and local impact real. In what became a short foray into shea this season, partner incomes rose materially, up to 4x, for women who had long abandoned the shea trade. Despite the expectations of policymakers, the sudden shea ban did not translate into a sudden shift to butter-making within these communities. Without guaranteed buyers, equipment, and working capital, telling rural women to ‘process more’ is not a plan.

What would make the policy bite without breaking operators mid-season?

? Time-bound transition: Announce bans pre-season with a dated glide path; grandfather already-contracted volumes.

? Clarify scope: Exempt kernels that meet domestic value-add thresholds (e.g., moisture, FFA specs) while still discouraging export of unprocessed nuts.

? Processor certification and quotas: Prioritise domestic processors with verifiable capacity; allocate transitional quotas for exporters linked to local offtake commitments.

? Season-fit working capital: Create an accountable SME window (not grants) tied to delivery and quality metrics; pay rural women processing groups on acceptance, not on hope.

? Border discipline that targets leakage, not compliance. Focus enforcement on high-risk corridors and known arbitrage, not operators with mapped farms and traceable lots.

Nigeria should absolutely become a hub for value-added shea. But we get there by matching policy timing to season economics, by backing operators who already execute, and by aligning incentives so the formal route wins. Otherwise, we freeze the very supply chains we need to build the processors we want.

SeamlessHR has been listed among the world’s 100 most promising private fintech firms in the latest CB Insights Fintech 100 ranking.

The Nigerian HR software company was recognised in the HR and payroll category, which spotlights firms developing technology to streamline human resource processes and enhance workplace productivity.

Now in its eighth edition, the Fintech 100 highlights early and mid-stage startups shaping the global financial technology landscape. CB Insights said winners were selected based on factors such as deal activity, investor profile, hiring momentum, industry partnerships, and private company performance metrics.

SeamlessHR joins a growing list of Nigerian fintechs previously featured in the ranking, including Moniepoint, OPay, NALA, and Flutterwave.

The company, founded by Emmanuel Okeleji and Deji Lana, develops cloud-based HR and payroll solutions used by over 1,000 medium and large enterprises across Africa. It has offices in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, and has raised more than $20 million from investors such as the Gates Foundation and Helios Digital Ventures.

Commenting on the recognition, Emmanuel Okeleji, CEO and Co-Founder, SeamlessHR, said, ‘Being named among the world’s top 100 fintech companies by CB Insights is a validation of our commitment to build world-class technology from Africa.’

CB Insights described this year’s honourees as companies ‘turning AI, automation and digital assets into the backbone of financial infrastructure.’

The latest recognition adds to SeamlessHR’s growing list of global acknowledgements. In 2024, it was ranked among the Financial Times’ fastest-growing African companies. The company is expanding its product suite, including an embedded finance solution, as part of its efforts to strengthen its position in the HR technology market.