Category Archives: Nigeria

Nigeria, China to tackle low quality products import

China and Nigeria have agreed to put in place measures to tackle importation of substandard products into the country.

China and Nigeria Chamber of Commerce (CCCN) President, Ye Shuijin, stated this yesterday, while addressing reporters in Abuja. He insisted that most of the imported fake products were not made in China.

He said the Chamber and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) have some agreements to check influx of substandard products into the country.

“Most of the substandard products that came to Nigeria are not from China because the Chinese government has well structured standards in place for its products.

“China products are of high quality, nonetheless the Chinese government is already cooperating with Nigeria to promote importation of quality products to Nigeria,” he said.

The quality of imported products, such as iron rods, bulbs, sockets, cables and fittings have always been allegedly traced to China.

SON raised an alarm last year that 40 per cent of electrical and electronic appliances imported into Nigeria “are substandard and have caused disasters with destruction to lives and property.”

It was also observed that all manner of uncertified food items are dumped in the country.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), also said Nigeria spent N212.73 billion to import agricultural products in the last quarter of last year.

The Chamber chief therefor stressed the need to guide  importers to do the right thing and not to import substandard products to Nigeria.

Shuijin urged the importers and the consumers to be vigilant and reject any noticed substandard products for the development of the economy.

The president said the chamber and the Chinese government always encourage investors from China to invest in the manufacturing sector and help in the development of the economy.

He said Nigeria, because of its population, has the market which he said was an added advantage to attract investors into the country.

Shuijin assured that more Chinese investors would be willing to invest in Nigeria.

Source: The Nation, 24th August 2017

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Buhari returns after lengthy UK medical treatment

President to address nation following more than three months of absence spent in London for ailment.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to the country on Saturday after more than three months in the UK for medical treatment for an undisclosed “health challenge”.

The 74-year-old left for London on May 7.

His prolonged absence caused tensions back home where calls have grown for him to either return or resign.

“President Buhari is expected to speak to Nigerians in a broadcast by 7am on Monday,” his office said.

In recent weeks, the office has been releasing photos of officials meeting with the rail-thin but smiling president in the hope of reassuring people back home.

His main opponents in the 2015 election that brought him to power claimed he had prostate cancer. He has denied that claim. Buhari’s four-year term ends in 2019.

Challenges facing Nigeria

Nigeria’s ongoing challenges include deadly Boko Haram attacks, a weak economy and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions malnourished in the northeast.

With Buhari away, Nigeria has been led by acting president and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who met the president in London in mid-July and announced that Buhari would return to Nigeria “very shortly”.

Observers fear that political unrest could erupt in Nigeria, particularly in the predominantly Muslim north, should Buhari not finish his term in office. The previous president was a Christian from the south, as is Osinbajo. The health of Nigeria’s Musa Yar’Adua after months of treatment abroad leaders has been a sensitive issue since the 2010 death in office of President Umaru Ardua.

Source: Al Jazeera, 19th August 2017

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Nigeria to borrow $7bn from China and World Bank

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria is seeking approval from parliament to borrow nearly 7$bn. A $5.85bn loan from China would be used to modernize Nigeria’s railways and a $1.07bn loan from the World Bank would help fund reconstruction in the northeast, which has been ravaged by insurgency. Nigeria is experiencing the first recession in 25 years.

Source: African Business, May 2017

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Nigeria Reclaims Africa’s Top Oil Producer Spot

Chineme Okafor in Abuja

Nigeria may have reclaimed its position as Africa’s top oil producer which it lost to fellow African oil producer, Angola earlier in March 2016.

According to the December 2016 Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), crude oil production from Nigeria rose slightly above that of Angola even before the January 2017 planned production cut agreed by OPEC and non-OPEC producers.
Angola would be expected to cut about 78,000 barrels per day (bd) of its production in the agreement which was sealed in late 2016.

But secondary sources in the MOMR indicated that in November, Nigeria and Angola produced 1.692 million barrels (mb) of oil apiece. Similarly, information from primary sources in the MOMR stated that Nigeria produced 1.782mb of oil as against Angola’s 1.688mb to show its takeover of Angola by about 94,000bd.

“According to secondary sources, OPEC crude oil production in November increased by 151tb/d compared to the previous month to average 33.87mb/d. Crude oil output increased the most in Angola, Nigeria and Libya, while production in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia showed the largest decline.
“A new OPEC-14 production target of 32.5mb/d as per 1 January 2017 represents a reduction of around 1.2mb/d from October production levels,” said OPEC’s December MOMR.

Earlier in the year when Nigeria lost its position as Africa’s largest producer, its output fell to about 1.677mb, as against Angola’s 1.782mb then.

The development was made possible by repeated attacks on Nigerian oil infrastructure by militants in the Niger Delta. This dragged the country’s daily oil production down by about 700,000bd as reported by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in July, and further confirmed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.
Though Nigeria is still far from recovering to its full capacity, it has also secured a production cap exemption from the rest of OPEC and non-OPEC members on the basis of the attacks on her oil infrastructure.

The Niger Delta Avengers, which is majorly responsible for the production disruption, claimed it was fighting for socioeconomic equality in the region. Although, the group and other militants in the region agreed to a ceasefire against further attacks in September 2016, they have however indicated their intentions to resume hostilities following their claims of government’s indifference to their demands.

While a committee responsible for monitoring whether the agreed upon cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC members are being made will meet in Vienna on 21 and 22 January to hash out a way to monitor compliance with the deal, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Venezuela are already honouring the commitment to cut output.

Source: Thisday, January 10th, 1017

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