Nigerian manufacturers demand cut in cost of production amid surging oil prices

Nigeria's crude is selling for more than 100 U.S. dollars a barrel, well above the 64.85 U.S. dollars benchmark in its 2026 budget, and production is climbing to 1.7 million barrels per day. On paper, that should mean more dollars flowing into government coffers and more room for businesses to breathe. In practice, the manufacturers who keep Nigeria's factories running say the higher oil price has made their lives harder, not easier.

A significant share of the country's output is tied up in crude-backed loans. Nigeria's National Petroleum Company's 2025 audited financial statements show the federal authority committed more than 186,000 barrels per day to debt repayment, leaving a thinner slice of the gains than the headline price suggests.

"We are struggling now. The amount of money we are using to pay debt service, because we had to, the monetary has to raise interest rates to fight inflation. Before the reform started, we were borrowing at 8 percent. It got to 24 percent. Our bill for just servicing debts, including the foreign one, is more than 20 trillion (15 billion U.S. dollars) a year," said Taiwo Oyedele, Nigerian Minister of Finance.

The other side of the oil-price shock is already being felt by manufacturers particularly those that rely on diesel to keep production moving when public electricity supply fails.

"That has been the case since especially [the outbreak of] the Iran war [in February]. The cost of all petrochemicals have gone up, the cost of petroleum products have gone up. Our diesel costs went from 1,000 Naira (75 U.S. cents) to nearly 2,000 Naira (1.5 U.S. dollars). And we have to run on generators when there is no power," said Frank Onyebu, a Nigerian manufacturer.

And the pressure does not just end with the energy bill. Manufacturers are also grappling with stockpiles of finished goods in their warehouses as a result of weak demand.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria says manufacturers spent over 1.34 trillion Naira (1 billion U.S. dollars) on alternative power in 2025 alone while also depending heavily on imports of raw materials.

"The expenditure supports business continuity but also places additional pressure on resources that will be made available in utilizing for capacity expansion, technology acquisition, and productivity improvement. Nigeria imported approximately 3.53 trillion Naira (2.6 billion U.S. dollars) in raw materials during the first half of 2025. With about 1.72 trillion (1.2 billion U.S. dollars) sourced from Asia, this illustrates the extent to which domestic production continues to depend on imported inputs," said Francis Meshioye, former President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.

The dependence on imported inputs creates another exposure -- manufacturers need foreign exchange to buy materials, while the cost of local production is already being pushed up by energy and logistics. Meshioye argued that industrial policy must do more than encourage Nigerians to buy locally made goods.

"Policy should support local content, domestic value addition, and export capacity. It should reduce unnecessary regulatory and operational costs and support productivity and investment. It should provide also sufficient consistency for businesses to make long-term investment decisions," he added.

For manufacturers, the test of Nigeria's oil windfall will not be the price displayed on an international trading screen. It will be whether factories can keep producing, sell at sustainable prices and expand the share of goods made locally. While oil may bring the dollars in, without a competitive industrial base, turning those dollars into lasting economic value will remain a much harder task.

Nigerian manufacturers demand cut in cost of production amid surging oil prices

China can play a key role in stabilizing global health governance, help developing countries build their capacity, and turn its innovations into a shared public good at a time when some countries are retreating from multilateralism, according to a Chinese expert.

At a meeting in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for greater efforts to develop the country's health programs and to secure decisive progress in the Healthy China Initiative in the years ahead.

Xu Jin, an assistant professor at the China Center for Health Development Studies at the prestigious Peking University, shared his views on the pressing issues facing the global health sector in an interview with the China Media Group (CMG) on Wednesday.

Despite the current challenges facing multilateralism and tightening healthcare budgets, Xu said international cooperation in health is simply not a choice, stressing that diseases do not carry passports, and health threats do not stop at borders. He said that when a pandemic strikes or the burden of communicable diseases rises, no country can address the issue on its own or protect its people alone.

Xu further noted that the issue of healthcare is one area where national security and global solidarity are fundamentally the same thing. In this environment, going it alone can make everyone less safe, making global health governance more crucial than ever, he said.

Xu outlined the key areas where he believes China make a real difference in advancing global health.

"First, China can be a stabilizer of global health governance at a time when some countries are retreating from multilateralism. China's consistent support for WHO and its participation in the pandemic agreement negotiations and its commitment to health aid show that a major power can still treat health as a global public good," he said.

"Second, China can bridge the capability gap for developing countries. China has shown that a large population can achieve universal health coverage through strong primary care, disease prevention, and cost-effective systems. The path is highly relevant for the Global South. Through Belt and Road cooperation, hospital partnerships, and other things, China can help countries build their own capacity, not just to rely and receive aid," said the expert.

"Third, China can turn its domestic innovation into shareable global public goods. So from malaria elimination methods to vaccine manufacturing and traditional medicine to digital health, China has practical, scalable, affordable solutions. So the key is to share them as public goods through technology transfer, joint research and open data sharing and other ways of joint capability construction," said Xu.

"In short, global health governance needs countries that lead by building, not by withdrawing. China's role is to make health corporation more practical, more equitable, and more [capable of] addressing local health needs," he added.

China can play key role in global health governance: expert