The Director General of the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership (NCSP), Dr Joseph Tegbe, has said China’s remarkable economic transformation was not accidental but the result of deliberate and disciplined policy choices anchored on focus, standardization and consistent execution.
Tegbe stressed the need for Nigeria to adopt discipline, scale and long-term thinking as key pillars for sustainable enterprise development, drawing lessons from China’s national development experience.
He made the remarks during his presentation titled “Hacking Your Personal Economic Growth: Lessons from China’s National Development Journey,” delivered at a three-day capacity-building seminar themed “Leveraging Chinese Partnerships to Scale Nigerian Businesses.” The seminar was organized as part of NCSP’s efforts to promote structured knowledge exchange and enterprise-focused learning.
According to Tegbe, China’s pragmatic approach to innovation allowed many small and medium enterprises to begin by adapting existing products, proven business models and imported technologies before introducing incremental improvements.
He explained that Chinese enterprises often succeed by mastering a single product or service, replicating it efficiently, and improving it gradually based on market feedback.
The NCSP also highlighted collaboration as a major growth driver, noting that Chinese businesses typically operate within industrial clusters that share infrastructure, suppliers and labour, thereby reducing costs and boosting productivity.
Tegbe described discipline as China’s most enduring competitive advantage, explaining that entrepreneurs reinvest profits aggressively into machinery, inventory and process efficiency while maintaining modest lifestyles in early growth stages.
He added that strict cost control, accurate financial tracking and a solid understanding of unit economics are crucial to sustaining profitability and achieving scale.
Tegbe urged Nigerian entrepreneurs to focus on technical competence, market-driven growth, export readiness and patient long-term strategies rather than short-term gains.
He reaffirmed NCSP’s commitment to turning Nigeria–China cooperation into practical outcomes that enhance productivity, enterprise development and economic self-reliance.
