C0DE5RIA Africa Development, Vol. XXVIII, Nos. 3 & 4,2003, pp. 89-111 © Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, 2003 (ISSN 0850-3907) The Nature and Scope of Production Sub-contracting in Nigeria Dickson Dare Ajayk Abstract This study analyses the nature and scope of production sub-contracting link ages in Nigeria. The basic concepts are integration and industrial linkage, and production subcontracting. Data for this study were collected from the 68 contracting firms among the 15 industrial estates/areas in the Lagos region. The study's finding shows that the dominant form of sub-contracting is speciality sub-contracting. The various products of sub-contracting among the industrial estates/areas in the Lagos region, and between the Lagos region and the rest of Nigeria are discussed. Independent sub-contracting is the most common type of sub-contracting relationship. While over 50 percent of the contractors engage the services of a maximum of two subcontractors, it is only in motor vehicles and the miscellaneous assembly industry group that production sub-contracting accounted for more than 30 percent of the total costs of production. It accounted for about 20 percent in each of all the other industry groups in any of the years under consideration. Furthermore, this study shows that production sub contracting carried out over relatively short distances became very important after the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in Nigeria, and it is perceived as most useful in reducing the costs of production. Résumé Cette etude analyse la nature et 1 etendue des relations de sous-traitance de la production au Nigeria. Les principaux concepts sont l'intégration et les rela tions industrielles, ainsi que la sous-traitance en matière de production. Les informations relatives à cette étude ont été obtenues des soixante-huit entreprises contractantes situées dans les 15 régions industrielles de la région de Lagos. Cette étude révèle que la forme dominante de sous-traitance est la sous-traitance spécialisée. Les produits soumis à la sous-traitance entre les différentes zones de la région de Lagos et le reste du Nigeria sont évoqués dans ce texte. La sous traitance indépendante est la relation de sous-traitance la plus répandue. Tandis que plus de cinquante pour cent des entrepreneurs s'offrent les services de Department of Geography, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.