In what signals a major pivot towards non-oil economic diversification, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced a sweeping $300 million export manufacturing project targeting four Nigerian states—Cross River, Imo, Enugu, and Kano.

The initiative, which will be implemented through Arise Integrated Industrial Platform, one of the bank’s investee companies, is designed to lay the groundwork for Nigeria’s emergence as a regional hub for export-oriented manufacturing.

The plan was unveiled by Afreximbank President Prof. Benedict Oramah during the commissioning of the Afreximbank African Trade Centre (AATC) in Abuja on Thursday. Framed as part of the bank’s wider continental industrialization and trade facilitation agenda, the initiative marks a bold shift in Nigeria’s development priorities—away from crude exports and towards value-added production.

“This over $300 million project is being developed to promote export manufacturing,” Oramah told the audience, noting that similar special economic zones have already taken root in Ogun State.

By deploying these special zones, Afreximbank intends to transform the selected regions into high-impact industrial corridors that can absorb thousands of jobs, support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and serve regional and international supply chains. It’s a strategy long overdue for Nigeria, which has struggled for decades with poor manufacturing output and a crippling overreliance on oil receipts.

Oramah revealed that the bank has injected more than $50 billion into Nigeria’s economy over the past decade. These investments span energy, infrastructure, healthcare, manufacturing, transport, and financial services. The sheer volume of the figure underlines Afreximbank’s long-standing footprint in Africa’s most populous nation.

Of that amount, $19 billion has flowed into the financial services sector alone—a move he says has helped deepen credit markets and improve financial sector contributions to GDP.

Yet despite this robust capital injection, Nigeria’s non-oil sector remains sluggish, plagued by inadequate infrastructure, inconsistent policies, and an unfriendly investment climate. Manufacturing still contributes less than 10% to the country’s GDP, raising questions about the effectiveness of past investments and the urgent need for stronger coordination between finance, policy, and industry.

Healthcare Investment

Beyond industry, Afreximbank is also turning its development lens toward healthcare. Oramah confirmed that a $750 million African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) will be commissioned in June. The 500-bed quaternary facility in Abuja will specialize in oncology, cardiology, and hematology—diseases that send thousands of Nigerians abroad annually in search of advanced care.

If successful, the AMCE could reduce Nigeria’s medical tourism costs, which according to the Ministry of Health, drain over $1 billion from the economy every year.

“This is about offering world-class medical treatment right here in Africa,” Oramah said.

Quality Infrastructure to Unlock Exports

In a bid to make Nigerian goods globally competitive, Afreximbank is scaling up quality assurance. Oramah said the African Quality Assurance Centre (AQAC) in Ogun State is already operational, offering export testing and certification for agro-products and manufactured goods. Similar centers are underway in Imo and Kaduna States.

These interventions could plug the quality control gaps that often see Nigerian exports rejected in Europe and North America—a loss of both revenue and reputation.

Nigeria to Host Africa Energy Bank

Among the other significant developments is Nigeria’s selection as the host country for the Africa Energy Bank, a joint initiative by Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO). The energy-focused lender is expected to address chronic underfinancing in Africa’s oil, gas, and renewable energy sectors.

Oramah believes the bank will position Nigeria as the continent’s hub for energy finance, a strategic move, especially at a time when international funding for fossil fuel projects is shrinking due to climate change pressures.

“The Energy Bank will position Nigeria as the continental hub for mobilizing energy financing,” he said.

Refining, Fertilizer Boosts, and the Dangote Effect

Oramah credited Afreximbank’s interventions with helping ramp up Nigeria’s refining capacity to 1.2 million barrels per day and raising urea fertilizer production from under four million tons in 2019 to 7.5 million tons annually. He projected that output could rise to 11 million tons by 2027 as the Dangote Petrochemical Company continues to scale operations.

The bank has also helped finance other major industrial assets, including logistics and transportation infrastructure surrounding the Lekki corridor, where Dangote’s refinery is based.

Creative Sector Gets Dedicated Credit Line

Afreximbank is also stepping into Nigeria’s booming cultural economy. In collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Culture and Creative Industry, the bank has launched a $200 million credit facility dedicated to the country’s creatives.

The fund is aimed at unlocking access to finance, promoting global visibility, and building capacity in sectors like film, music, and digital arts—areas where Nigeria already has significant soft power.

“This is a recognition of the power of the creative economy as a serious contributor to GDP,” Oramah said.

In the wake of sweeping new tariffs on Chinese imports announced by President Donald Trump, U.S. businesses are racing to avoid steep price hikes for consumers. But their efforts appear to be hitting a brick wall. Many are pressing their Chinese suppliers to slash prices in a bid to offset the added tariff costs.

The response has been largely the same: No.

“If you already reduced your pricing in the past for your U.S. clients, you probably don’t have much space to do it again and again,” said Jonathan Chitayat, CEO of Genimex Group, a firm that manages overseas production for American companies. “You can do it for an order or two, but the next time your customer asks you for a price, you’re going to work on the reality that you have to be a profitable business. You can’t continue losing money.”

Chitayat’s firm helps U.S. companies manufacture products like kitchenware and electronics through factories in Asia, particularly China. He said that navigating Trump’s renewed tariffs has now become a regular part of the supply chain conversation. But margins are so thin, and government support is so lacking, that many factories simply have no room left to negotiate.

“There are no subsidies that we’re aware of that the government in China is giving to manufacturers,” he said. “So they mostly don’t—or have very, very little margins to give.”

The refusal by Chinese businesses to budge, analysts now say, signals a troubling prospect for American consumers: inflation could return faster and more forcefully than expected.

Trump Ratchets Up Tariff Fight, China Hits Back

The tariff escalation comes as Trump, in a flurry of posts and public appearances, declared that tariffs on China now total 145%. He also announced a temporary 90-day suspension of new tariffs for over 75 countries that had not responded with retaliatory measures. That reprieve did not extend to China, which he accused of showing a “lack of respect” for global markets.

Writing on Truth Social, the U.S. president said the tariffs are “effective immediately” and necessary because “China has taken advantage of American goodwill for too long.”

China didn’t take the move lightly. Its Ministry of Finance raised existing tariffs to 125% in retaliation, saying U.S. products had lost “market acceptance” in the Chinese economy. The agency also accused Washington of using trade policy as a blunt tool to fuel domestic politics, calling the U.S. a “joke” on the world stage.

Consumers Will Pay the Price, Experts Warn

The consequences of this back-and-forth are already becoming clear. With no room left in the supply chain to absorb costs, economists say American consumers are next in line.

“There has historically been this pressure to figure out who’s going to eat the tariff, and I don’t think there’s much room to move on that now,” Willy C. Shih, a professor at Harvard Business School told BI. “China is already hyper-competitive. Many of the products hit by tariffs—like TVs, monitors, and tech components—were never made in the U.S. to begin with. There’s no backup.”

Shih explained that while a weakening of the Chinese yuan could help offset some of the tariff burden, it won’t be nearly enough to protect consumers from higher prices.

“You can distribute parts of the tariff among all the parties in the supply chain,” he said, “but these numbers are so large now that they’re going to have to be passed on to consumers.”

Analysts say that warning signs are already flashing across sectors dependent on Chinese manufacturing, including electronics, apparel, automotive parts, and household goods. Prices that had only recently begun to stabilize after pandemic-era disruptions could once again start to rise—this time fueled not by supply bottlenecks but by policy decisions.

China’s Economic Struggles Leave No Wiggle Room

Meanwhile, Chinese manufacturers themselves are in a precarious position. Internal demand in China has been weakening, and the country’s once-booming property sector, long a major driver of its GDP, has collapsed, slashing local government revenues and limiting Beijing’s ability to offer support.

“Chinese manufacturing firms have faced declining margins in part due to falling domestic demand,” Sara Hsu, clinical associate professor of supply chain management at the University of Tennessee told BI. “There is already weakness in this sector from last year, and the new tariffs only add to that pressure.”

Andrew Collier, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center, said Beijing’s options are limited.

“Xi [Jinping] faces pressure from unemployed workers, disgruntled property owners, and small businesses. He may want to help exporters, but he has very little fiscal space left to maneuver,” he said.

Inflation Headwinds May Undermine Trump’s Economic Message

For the U.S., the timing couldn’t be worse. Inflation, while declining in recent months, remains a core concern for households, and any policy that raises the cost of living could erode public support quickly.

Lisa Suwen, the trade consultant, warned that price hikes could hit the market before the summer shopping season.

“What makes this dangerous is that these tariffs aren’t coming after a trade war that’s cooled off—they’re coming after a period where consumers are just recovering from years of inflation,” she said. “If inflation returns suddenly because of this, it could lead to a rapid deterioration in purchasing power.”

She added that most large retailers have already begun discussing price adjustments, especially on tech and imported home goods.

“The Chinese aren’t going to lower prices, and the Americans aren’t going to eat the cost. That leaves just one option—price hikes.”

A Familiar Standoff With More at Stake

Trump’s trade policies have always carried political weight, particularly when aimed at China. But analysts say this latest round of tariffs is different—not only in scope but also in its potential to destabilize fragile economic recovery efforts.

Even as Trump positions the tariffs as a defense of American manufacturing, many argue that many of the goods targeted simply have no domestic substitute.

“These are not jobs that are coming back. These are price hikes that are coming in,” said Shih.

Unless either side backs down, a scenario that appears unlikely, American consumers may soon pay the price for a trade war with no clear exit ramp.