… Inaugurates Textile Revival Implementation Committee
Plans are underway by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to revive at least 20 textile companies before the end of the 2019.
The apex bank had taken the first step in the journey to revive the sector with the flag-off of input distribution to 100,000 cotton farmers, as well as cultivating 100,000 hectares in 23 states of the federation.
Confiance News learnt that to realize this ambitious dream, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele has inaugurated the Textile Revival Implementation Committee.
Members of the committee are drawn from the CBN, Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Kaduna State, Federal Ministry Power Works and Housing, Nigeria Customs Services, Federal Ministries of Finance and Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment and Nigerian Export Promotion Council.
The committee which was inaugurated on Thursday in Abuja was charged by the CBN Governor to resuscitate at least 50 textile firms by the end of 2023; collaborate with stakeholders to identify, name and shame textile smugglers in Nigeria as well as develop a framework for eradication of smuggling and dumping of textile products into Nigeria, facilitate the 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 Committee is also expected to “work assiduously to deliver a minimum of 50 megawatts of captive power to Cotton, Textiles and Garment (CTG) firms in the interested states by 2021, and facilitate the effective pricing and delivery of gas, black oil and diesel to CTG firms in Lagos and other interested states to enhance their power generation and consumption.”
Speaking at the event, the CBN Governor lamented that “the CTG sector within the last 20 years had suffered a lot of difficulties especially, 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.”
According to Emefiele, “smuggling of textile goods alone has been estimated to cost the nation over $2.2 billion. 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.”
Speaking on the rationale behind the inauguration of the textile revival committee, Emefiele noted that “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.”
He was optimistic that “the CBN would resuscitate the cotton belts nationwide and grow 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.
