Insight | Turning BRICS/NDB Finance Into Industry. Nigeria as Pilot
Financing green industrial plays in local currency in Nigeria as a model for the Global South has outsized economic and geopolitical benefits for both Nigeria and BRICS
By Prof. Ken Ife1 and Dr. Paul Alaje2
Summary
A key conversation at BRICS, 2026 should be how BRICS’s local currency financing commitment can become an industry driver in Global South countries. BRICS already has the commitment to and the vehicle — NDB; it needs 2 things: ambition beyond projects (toward industrial plays), and an anchor country to prove this ambition and framework. Nigeria can become a BRICS industrial powerhouse in Africa as a model for the Global South. At a time when renewable energy is becoming the most affordable industrial input around the world, Nigeria’s opportunity lies in building strong industries on renewable energy. The unique BRICS opportunity is arming Nigeria with affordable finance, in the form of local currency, for not just renewable energy projects but for the real economic outcome: green industries.
For long, Nigeria has been characterised as a complex country with a deep energy gap and a fast-growing population of more than 200 million people. This is the old perspective. Today, the question should be how Nigeria’s industrial powerhouse potential can be achieved with affordable, reliable, accessible energy. A key conversation at BRICS, 2026 should be how Nigeria can become a BRICS industrial powerhouse in Africa as a model for the Global South. At a time when renewable energy is becoming the most affordable industrial input around the world, Nigeria’s opportunity lies in building strong industries on renewable energy. The unique BRICS opportunity is arming Nigeria with affordable finance, in the form of local currency, for not just renewable energy projects but for the real economic outcome: green industries.
BRICS is at an inflection point testing its ability to move from a mere global alliance to delivering real economic impact particularly in Global South countries. India, assuming the BRICS Chairmanship in January this year, provided the alliance with intellectual credibility, with India’s theme for BRICS focusing on ‘Building Resilience and Innovation for Cooperation and Sustainability’. However, the coalition still needs a clear and unique development model for Global South countries. Aiming to be different from global talk shops, BRICS’s best shot at global strength and credibility is enabling key Global South countries to become industrial powerhouses.
There is no better country in Africa to test this than with Nigeria. One of Africa’s largest economies, Nigeria combines the continent’s most diverse and complex industrial base with the most acute foreign exchange vulnerability, making it the ideal place to prove that BRICS can turn an innovative development vision into reality through local currency financing.
While renewable energy projects focus on building energy systems, green industrialization goes further and opens bigger opportunities to establish industries, manufacture products and process minerals. Nigeria does not suffer a lack of natural resources or green industrial inputs. Nigeria has an abundance of solar and wind; in fact, harnessing just one percent of Nigeria’s landmass for solar infrastructure can produce enough energy to address the entire country’s energy needs. Further, Nigeria is endowed with critical minerals such as bauxite, lithium, iron ore all of which are essential for the global clean energy supply chain.
The missing input is a very crucial one: affordable finance to turn ambition and natural resources into industry. Most financing for green industrialization is expensive because it is structured in foreign currency, particularly the Dollar, while the outputs are paid for in Naira, increasing FX risk. BRICS’s New Development Bank (NDB) has the institutional mandate to finance development projects in Global South countries in local currency. The NDB has already financed projects in South Africa in local currency; it needs to go further — a green industrial pilot, in Nigeria, in Naira, would create a powerful case study for BRICS.
Going beyond renewable energy projects and financing green industrial plays in the Naira has outsized benefits for both Nigeria and BRICS; it will be an effective mechanism to open doors to Nigerian Alpha for investors in BRICS countries – in assets larger than renewable energy projects, and it will turbo-charge Nigeria’s industrial and economic growth in one of the largest countries and economies in Africa, which would also generate employment opportunities in a country where a significant proportion of its population, 56%, lives below the poverty line. For context, 56% of Nigeria’s population is more than 135 million. A model that works in Nigeria, that demonstrably unlocks clean industrial investment at scale using local currency mechanisms, is exportable. To Kenya. To Senegal. To Egypt. Nigeria as a pilot is not Nigeria as an exception. It is Nigeria as proof of concept for the continent.
As India hosts the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, it has the unique opportunity to turn BRICS South-South commitments into a strong industrialization model that will enhance BRICS’s credibility and economic strength globally.
A model that works in Nigeria, that demonstrably unlocks clean industrial investment at scale using local currency mechanisms, is exportable. To Kenya. To Senegal. To Egypt. Nigeria as a pilot is not Nigeria as an exception. It is Nigeria as proof of concept for the continent.
Professor Ken Ife is a macroeconomic and public policy specialist focused on infrastructure finance, industrial development, and inclusive growth. He chairs the G20 Infrastructure Conference for Africa in London and advises governments and institutions on economic strategy and investment frameworks.
Dr. Paul Alaje is Chief Economist at SPM Professionals, with expertise in macroeconomic strategy, financial systems, and investment advisory. His work spans economic modeling, business strategy, and development finance across emerging markets.