Barbara Bako, Abuja
In its plan to resuscitate the moribund textile and garment sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is planning lifeline for at least 20 textile companies before the end of 2019 in its efforts to cut down on smuggling and dumping of the items in the country. The process which started Thursday with the inauguration of the Textile Revival Implementation Committee, will involve facilitating production of 200,000 hectares of cotton fields by 2020 and maintain an annual increase of 100,000 hectares over the next three years.
The resuscitation is the second phase of the apex bank’s intervention in the sector which had been moribund for over 20 years. Earlier, the CBN stopped forex supply to importers of textile and garments materials and went further by including the items on the list of those banned from accessing forex.
Although the apex bank is still silent on the beneficiaries and the amount for each of them, the CBN has flagged off input distribution to 100,000 cotton farmers, as well as cultivating 100,000 hectares in 23 states of the federation as the first step in its revival of the sector from which over 20,000 workers have become jobless.
The resuscitation Of the sector which factories have been taken over by religious bodies, will involve all the stakeholders in the country according to the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele who said the committee would develop a framework for eradication of smuggling and dumping of textile products into Nigeria.
At the inauguration attended by the Governor of Kano State Abdullahi Ganduje, the Deputy Governors of Kaduna and Jigawa State and other stakeholders in the CTG sector, the committee is saddled with the responsibility to resuscitate at least 50 textile firms by the end of 2023; and also collaborate with stakeholders to identify, name and shame textile smugglers in Nigeria.
Other components of the lifeline include delivery of minimum of 50 megawatts of captive power to CTG firms in the interested states by 2021, and facilitating effective pricing and delivery of gas, black oil and diesel to CTG firms in Lagos and other interested states.
The CTG sector has been in comatose in the last 20 years owing to low cotton production, poor power and transport infrastructure, obsolete production lines, smuggling and counterfeiting, inadequate local patronage, high cost of production, and multiple taxation among others.
Smuggling of textile goods alone has cost the nation over $2.2bn according to Emefiele who said, “It’s no secret that the past 20 years have been very difficult for the cotton, textiles and garment sector.
“Today, most of the textile factories have all stopped operations and the workforce in Nigeria’s textile industry stands at less than 20,000 people.
“In addition, a large proportion of our clothing materials are imported from China and countries in Europe. “Our consultations with key stakeholders in the CTG sub-sector necessitated the constitution of this Textile Revival Implementation Committee as a pre-requisite to fixing the identified challenges in the CTG sub-sector.
“A consolidated approach of this magnitude will afford us economies of scale, synergy in resource utilization and provide a holistic solution to harnessing the potentials of the CTG sub-sector in Nigeria”.
Part of the solution will be resuscitating the cotton belts nationwide and growing the value chain till the last mile of textile production.
“We will need to set timelines for these deliverables and charge the technical committees to develop road maps that must be achieved within the set timelines,” he added.
While commenting at the event, the governor of Kano State Ganduje said that the strategy adopted by the CBN would revive the CTG sector noting that only strong institutions would implement the recommendations to effectively achieve the objectives of the committee.
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