Nigeria’s National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has announced plans to build the country’s first metal additive manufacturing hub, an initiative designed to reduce dependence on imported industrial components and build domestic 3D printing capacity for high-value metal parts. The proposal, presented on September 15, 2026, in Abuja, offers a blueprint that other developing countries — including Pakistan — should study closely.

In Brief

  • NASENI’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology Development Institute (AMTDI) presented a plan for a metal additive manufacturing hub covering design, simulation, laser powder-fusion, powder recycling, finishing, and quality assurance
  • The hub would operate as a public-private partnership, with government providing infrastructure and private companies contributing equipment, expertise, and capital
  • The proposal ties metal AM directly to Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, positioning locally processed minerals as feedstock for metal powders
  • Nigeria has already launched a Czech-backed STEAM and 3D printing centre in Abuja through Innov8 Hub, using Prusa printers for skills training
  • The announcement highlights a pattern: developing countries are moving from consuming imported technology to building domestic manufacturing capacity

What NASENI Proposed

The plan was outlined in a paper titled “The Science of Layer-by-Layer Fabrication of High-Value Metallic Components: Towards Establishing Nigeria’s Metal Additive Manufacturing Hub,” presented by Abdulrahman Barkindo Bawuro, the overseeing officer of AMTDI — a NASENI division based in Jalingo, Taraba State. Chief Engineer Okechukwu Chijioke delivered the presentation on Bawuro’s behalf at the Technology Orientation Centre at NASENI Headquarters in Abuja, according to 3D Printing Industry.

The envisioned hub would integrate the full metal additive manufacturing ecosystem under one roof:

  • Digital product design — CAD and simulation capabilities for part design
  • Process simulation — predicting thermal and mechanical behavior during printing
  • Laser powder-fusion systems — the core AM technology for building metal parts layer by layer
  • Powder recovery and recycling — reducing material waste and cost
  • Surface finishing — post-processing for functional surface quality
  • Quality assurance — inspection and certification of printed parts

Bawuro proposed a public-private partnership (PPP) structure to fund and operate the facility. The government would supply enabling infrastructure — buildings, power, connectivity — while private companies contribute specialized equipment, technical expertise, and investment capital. This is a model that reduces upfront government burden while bringing in industrial partners who understand the technology.

Why Metal AM for Nigeria?

The economic logic NASENI presented is straightforward. Nigeria currently imports industrial components for aerospace, medical implants, turbine systems, electric vehicle components, pistons, brake calipers, and oilfield equipment. Each import represents capital leaving the country and a missed opportunity to build domestic manufacturing capability.

Bawuro tied the proposal directly to Nigeria’s solid minerals sector. The country has significant mineral resources that could be processed into metal powders — the feedstock for powder-bed AM systems. Instead of exporting raw minerals and importing finished components, Nigeria could capture value at both ends of the chain: processing minerals into powder, printing that powder into high-value parts, and keeping the capital domestically.

This is not a new idea in global AM strategy. The U.S. Navy’s recent protocol for 3D printed metal submarine parts demonstrates how institutional buyers can replace imported or obsolete parts with domestically printed alternatives. The difference is scale and context: the Navy is solving supply chain constraints within the world’s largest military industrial base. Nigeria is attempting to build that industrial base from scratch.

The STEAM Connection: Skills Before Machines

NASENI’s metal hub announcement does not exist in isolation. In July 2026, Innov8 Hub — a Nigerian technology access organization — partnered with the Embassy of the Czech Republic to establish a STEAM and 3D Printing Technology Centre in Abuja, according to 3D Printing Industry. The centre is equipped with Prusa 3D printers and built around practice-based learning: trainees take projects from design through prototyping to finished parts.

The sequence matters. Nigeria is building skills infrastructure before — or alongside — industrial AM capacity. Desktop FDM printers in a STEAM centre do not produce turbine blades, but they produce something more valuable in the long run: people who understand additive manufacturing as a process, not a black box. When the metal hub comes online, there will be a pipeline of trainees who already think in layers.

This is the same principle that drives LearnOSTEAM — building STEAM education platforms that teach coding, robotics, and design thinking to students through hands-on projects. The tool changes (a Buddy Bot one day, a metal powder bed system a decade later) but the pedagogical core stays the same: learn by making.

What Other African Countries Are Doing

Nigeria is not alone in pursuing AM capacity. Several African nations have launched initiatives:

  • South Africa: The Barnes Group Advisors licensed its Activate AM training portfolio to TiziriTech, a regional provider, so engineers can be trained locally rather than sent abroad
  • Ghana: The country has explored 3D printing for its next fleet of vessels, according to 3D Printing Industry
  • Nigeria (industrial): Caracol’s partnership with RusselSmith brought large-format additive manufacturing to West Africa, deploying two Vipra AM platforms alongside training and talent development

The pattern across these initiatives is consistent: technology transfer sticks when local people can operate, maintain, and teach the tools. Hardware demand follows skills, not the other way around.

Why This Matters for Pakistan

Pakistan faces a structurally similar challenge to Nigeria. Both countries have:

  • Significant mineral resources that are exported raw rather than processed into high-value products
  • A manufacturing sector heavily dependent on imported components and tooling
  • A growing but still-nascent technology education infrastructure
  • A large youth population that needs job-ready technical skills
  • Government agencies (NASENI in Nigeria, organizations like the Ministry of IT and Telecom in Pakistan) attempting to build domestic technology capacity

Pakistan has taken steps in this direction. The INSPIRE semiconductor program has built a three-cluster network across NUST, NED University, and ESUPAK-UET Lahore to train chip design professionals. The Digital Nation Pakistan Act has created a policy framework for digital infrastructure. But there is no equivalent national initiative for additive manufacturing — no metal AM hub, no coordinated skills pipeline for 3D printing at the industrial level.

What Pakistan Can Learn from the NASENI Model

Skills before machines. Nigeria’s Czech-backed STEAM centre started with desktop printers and training. The metal hub followed. Pakistan has makerspaces and university labs with 3D printers, but there is no national skills curriculum for additive manufacturing. A coordinated AM training program — similar to what Nigeria built with Innov8 Hub and Prusa — would create the human capital needed before investing in industrial-grade metal AM equipment.

Public-private partnership structure. NASENI’s proposal has the government providing infrastructure while private companies bring equipment and expertise. This reduces the risk of a government-owned facility becoming an expensive, underutilized showcase. Pakistan’s technology parks and special economic zones could host similar PPP arrangements for AM facilities.

Tie AM to existing industries. NASENI identified oilfield equipment, automotive components, and medical implants as target applications. Pakistan has equivalent demand: automotive parts, medical devices, aerospace components, and oil and gas tooling. Rather than building a general-purpose AM hub, Pakistan could anchor an AM facility to a specific industrial vertical where domestic demand is already proven.

Process minerals into powder. Pakistan has significant mineral resources, including titanium, iron ore, and rare earth elements. Processing these into metal powders for AM would capture value domestically and create a supply chain that feeds into a domestic AM hub. This requires metallurgical expertise and investment in powder production, but it is the step that transforms raw material exports into high-value manufacturing inputs.

Product Builder’s Perspective

From a product-building perspective, the NASENI proposal highlights a question that every developing country technology team must answer: what is the right order of investment?

The temptation is to buy the most advanced metal AM system available, install it in a facility, and wait for industrial demand to appear. This approach has failed repeatedly. Metal powder bed fusion systems cost anywhere from $500,000 to several million dollars. Without trained operators, qualified design engineers, a supply chain for metal powder, post-processing capability, and a quality assurance framework, that equipment sits idle.

Nigeria’s two-track approach — STEAM training centres feeding into an industrial metal hub — is more sustainable. The training centre produces people. The metal hub employs them. The gap between the two is measured in years, not months, but the sequence is correct.

For Pakistani hardware teams and educators, the practical takeaway is that AM adoption in developing countries is not primarily a technology problem. It is a human capital problem. The Buddy Bot robotics platform teaches students about sensors, actuators, and programming through hands-on experimentation. A similar platform for additive manufacturing — where students learn design for AM, process parameters, and quality control on accessible desktop systems before touching industrial equipment — would build the foundation that a future metal AM hub would need.

What to Watch Next

  • NASENI’s funding timeline: The proposal is a plan, not a funded project. Watch for budget allocations and private partner announcements in the coming months.
  • Pakistan’s AM policy moves: Pakistan’s technology policy has focused on software exports, semiconductors, and digital infrastructure. Whether additive manufacturing enters the policy conversation will signal whether the country is thinking about advanced manufacturing or only IT services.
  • African AM adoption signals: If Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana continue investing in AM, it creates a regional competitive dynamic that may accelerate adoption across the continent — and put pressure on South Asian countries to do the same.
  • Metal powder supply chains: Developing countries with mineral resources that invest in powder production will have a structural advantage in AM. Watch for any announcements about domestic powder production facilities.

Conclusion

NASENI’s metal additive manufacturing hub is a proposal, not a finished facility. It will face implementation challenges — funding, equipment procurement, trained personnel, and sustained political commitment — that have derailed similar initiatives in other developing countries. But the logic behind it is sound: build skills, build infrastructure, connect AM to existing industrial demand, and process local minerals into high-value products. For Pakistan, which faces a similar gap between current manufacturing capability and future industrial needs, the NASENI model offers a template worth studying — and a reminder that the countries that invest in additive manufacturing capacity now will be the ones supplying the parts that others are still importing.

What would it take for Pakistan to build its own metal AM hub? The answer starts with skills, not machines.

Sources

Shamyl Bin Mansoor

Shamyl Bin Mansoor is a technology entrepreneur, product builder and STEAM educator. He is Co-founder and CTO of LearnOBots and works on educational technology, robotics and interactive learning products. Learn more about him.

Related Articles

Apple's 3D Printed Titanium Hinge in the iPhone Duo: What It Means for Manufacturing Beyond Consumer Electronics

Apple's first foldable iPhone uses a 3D printed titanium hinge cover made from 100% recycled material. Here is what this means for additive manufacturing in mass production, product design, and the broader manufacturing industry.

Building MBK’s Geyser Monitor: From an ESP32 and a Printed Case to a Remote Dashboard

How I built a personal geyser temperature monitor with an ESP32, DS18B20, OLED, Wi-Fi setup portal and a custom dashboard on Railway.

XPENG's IRON Humanoid Robot Walks Off the Production Line: What It Means for Robotics Manufacturing

XPENG has commissioned the world's first automated production line for advanced humanoid robots, with its IRON robot walking off the line autonomously. Here is what this means for the humanoid robotics industry, product builders, and educators.