Date of Award
8-1-2025
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
History
First Advisor
Getahun, Benti
Abstract
This study investigates the economic and social impact of four major Indonesian-owned enterprises—Indofood, Wings Corporation, Kalbe Farma, and Indorama—on Nigeria between 1980 and 2022. It contends that these companies entered the Nigerian market between the late 1980s and early 2000s, a period marked by severe economic crises, including industrial decline, rising unemployment, inflation, and food insecurity, making their impact significant. These structural gaps created opportunities that Indonesian firms capitalized on, often through a combination of private initiative and strategic collaboration with the Nigerian government. This study, therefore, explores the sector-specific contributions of these firms across fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and petrochemicals. It demonstrates that their success stemmed from multiple interrelated factors: the provision of affordable alternatives to locally unavailable or expensive products, the localization of labor across professional and unskilled tiers, sustained corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives aimed at community integration, and access to international financing and state incentives for industrial revitalization. While the study acknowledges the developmental benefits these firms brought—such as employment generation, industrial diversification, and improved access to essential goods—it also critically examines the capitalist motives underpinning their ventures. It argues that their presence contributed to both positive transformation and certain exploitative tendencies within Nigeria’s socio-economic landscape, reflecting the dual-edged nature of foreign direct investment in postcolonial African economies.
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