Nigeria’s business landscape is often defined by the “hustle,” but Joseph Tegbe, Director-General of the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership (NCSP), argues that hustle alone won’t build an empire. Speaking at a high-level capacity-building seminar, Tegbe delivered a masterclass on how Nigerian entrepreneurs can “hack” their economic growth by adopting the disciplined, long-term tactics that fueled China’s rise to global dominance.
The seminar, titled “Leveraging Chinese Partnerships to Scale Nigerian Businesses,” serves as a bridge for knowledge transfer, moving beyond simple trade toward deep-rooted industrial strategy.
Innovation Through Adaptation
One of the most provocative points in Tegbe’s presentation was his deconstruction of the “innovation” myth. He noted that China’s SMEs didn’t necessarily start with world-changing inventions. Instead, they mastered the art of incremental innovation.
-
The Strategy: Import proven technology, adapt it to local needs, and refine it relentlessly.
-
The Benefit: This reduces R&D risks and allows businesses to build technical competence while they scale.
The Three Pillars of the Chinese Model
Tegbe identified a specific trio of traits that Nigerian business owners must adopt to move from survival to sustainability:
-
Extreme Discipline: Chinese entrepreneurs are famous for living modestly during growth phases, aggressively reinvesting every kobo of profit back into machinery, inventory, and efficiency.
-
The Power of the Cluster: Success isn’t a solo sport. Tegbe highlighted how Chinese firms thrive in “industrial clusters,” sharing infrastructure and labor to slash production costs—a model Nigeria’s fragmented SME sector desperately needs.
-
Mastery of Scale: Rather than doing ten things poorly, the Chinese model focuses on mastering one single product, perfecting the unit economics, and replicating it across massive markets.
From “Hustle” to “Strategy”
Tegbe’s message to the Nigerian private sector was clear: Patience is a competitive advantage. He urged a shift away from short-term gains toward “patient, market-driven growth.”
“China’s rise was not accidental,” Tegbe emphasized. “It was the product of deliberate policy choices rooted in focus and standardized execution.”
The Global Ambition
The NCSP isn’t just about diplomatic handshakes; it’s about creating “practical pathways” for Nigerian businesses to access Chinese expertise and technology. For Tegbe, the goal is economic self-reliance—building Nigerian enterprises that don’t just survive locally but are “export-ready” and capable of competing on the world stage.
