For many businesses, environmental, health and safety compliance is still seen largely as a regulatory requirement: obtain the necessary approvals, keep the certificates, prepare the reports and respond when a regulator comes knocking.
That approach is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
In the twelve months to May 2026, the Lagos State Safety Commission sealed more than 2,800 sites and facilities across the state. Over six weeks this summer, the state environmental protection agency also shut down 33 facilities. At the federal level, publicly reported enforcement actions across 2025 and 2026 covered more than 100 facilities, including businesses in agriculture and agro-processing.
For a business owner, however, the biggest cost is not always the fine.
It is the production that stops, the delivery that is delayed, the customer that moves to another supplier or the financing opportunity that becomes more difficult to secure.
This is where I believe many Nigerian businesses need to change the way they look at compliance.
At Primecentric Limited, we are seeing environmental, safety and sustainability requirements increasingly influence commercial decisions. What used to sit mainly within the regulatory or HSE function is now becoming relevant to procurement, banking, insurance, investment and access to international markets.
The problem is often not what businesses do, but what they can demonstrate
A Bank of Industry survey of more than 300 Nigerian MSMEs found that 72 per cent were familiar with ESG and 67 per cent had already adopted environmental practices. However, only 28 per cent had a formal environmental policy.
That tells an important story.
Many businesses are already taking steps. The challenge is that those efforts are not always properly documented, measured or organised into evidence that another party can rely on.
That evidence is becoming more important.
For businesses involved in international trade, for example, environmental and traceability requirements can directly affect whether products can enter certain markets. Financial institutions and development finance organisations are also placing greater emphasis on environmental and social risk management when assessing projects and businesses.
This means compliance is no longer something a business should think about only when there is an inspection or when a permit is about to expire.
It needs to form part of the business system.
Turning compliance into something useful
At Primecentric, our approach is straightforward.
We start by understanding the business, identifying the regulations and standards that actually apply to its operations, assessing the key environmental, health and safety risks, and then helping the organisation close the gaps and properly document what has been done.
The documentation is important, but it is not the objective.
The objective is to help the business operate responsibly while also being able to demonstrate that responsibility to regulators, customers, lenders, investors and other stakeholders.
For businesses operating in Nigeria, this can involve dealing with several regulatory and stakeholder requirements at the same time, including the Federal Ministry of Environment, NESREA, NMDPRA, NAFDAC, the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service and relevant state agencies. For organisations dealing with international investors or customers, those requirements may also need to be aligned with frameworks such as the IFC Performance Standards and World Bank Environmental and Social Framework.
I often tell clients.
It is not enough to be compliant; you need to be able to demonstrate it.
A business that has good practices but cannot produce the records, approvals, monitoring results or management systems to support them may still struggle when those things become a condition for a contract, financing or market access.
A factory that is unable to operate because of a compliance issue is not generating revenue. A shipment held because the required documentation is missing is also a business cost.
The opportunity, therefore, is to stop seeing compliance simply as a cost of doing business and start seeing it as part of the infrastructure that supports the business.
For Nigerian businesses looking to grow, particularly those seeking larger corporate customers, international markets or institutional financing, having the right environmental, safety and sustainability systems in place can make the difference between simply saying you are ready and being able to demonstrate that you are.
That is the direction the market is moving, and businesses that prepare early will be better positioned to respond.
Olatoyosi Balogun is a managing consultant at Primecentric Limited. Primecentric Limited is a Lagos-based environmental, safety and sustainability consultancy serving clients across Nigeria. The firm supports organisations with environmental assessment and compliance, HSE management, sustainability, ESG, climate resilience and related risk management services.
Its work spans sectors including oil and gas, manufacturing, agribusiness, energy and power, real estate, banking, telecommunications and other industrial sectors.
Website: www.primecentricltd.com
Media contact: 07018080962, [email protected]
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