Nigeria's Textile Import Bill Hit N365 Billion

 

According to the Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the importation of textiles and textile articles hits N365.5 billion last year.

Speaking to the report,  despite the economy and effort, textile import in Nigeria is increasing.

He said, “The CBN has not implemented what they planned to do three years ago because people are still importing even more than before. And with this surge in imports, how do we prepare to reap the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement." 

 Speaking on the CBN statement, an account of the importer wanted to be close for them to up with the idea of growing an investment here in their country. “But the country’s high cost of production, which is making us uncompetitive, discourages such investments.”

 Speaking to the report, out of the 24 textile industries just three are working with the help of those working with them.

According to the report, employment was created for both skilled and unskilled labor, generating export earnings, attracting foreign direct investment, and reducing poverty by one of the contributors in manufacturing.

Speaking to the report, due to the insecurity, and inconsistency of government policy, the firm was not functioning in the 1990s.

According to the report in 2008, there was banned on the importation of textiles and other materials to bring up the growth of the industry, later it was canceled and there was 35 percent on the importation of materials.

Further speak that, FX's restriction on the importation of textiles and materials was imposed by CBN, Four years later. 

“We will provide financial support to textile manufacturers with the provision of funds at a single-digit rate, to refit, re-tools, and upgrade their factories to produce high-quality textile materials for the local and export market,” Godwin Emefiele, governor of CBN, said.

According to the new report, over 620,000 direct and indirect jobs were created between 2009 and 2021.

“It is not a disappointment that the CBN did not achieve success because all the variables that were necessary to make the industry succeed were not addressed,” said Gabriel Idahosa, deputy president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“One of such was that the country was not producing cotton, the primary raw material at a competitive price relative to countries like China, Bangladesh, and several other countries that produce cotton at a far lower price than Nigeria,” he said.

According to the report,  Energy-intensive is due to the high production of cotton.

“Also, the depreciating value of the naira made the importation of machinery and cotton much higher than the price of textile products of other countries,” he said.

He further, speaks that these factors completely affect this industry

Speaking to the report, cotton production increased to 1.6 million metric tonnes as of 2020, says to the United States Department of Agriculture, which makes Nigeria to be among the highest-producing cotton in Africa.

Musa Yusuf said "The market of foreign textiles in Nigeria is around 80-90 percent. So the market is largely dominated by imports. And even if you restrict or ban, it does not guarantee local production because the borders are very porous, making a lot of smuggling to still be going on."

“And even if there is local production, the high inflationary environment will make the products less affordable in a country where there is so much poverty.”

He said many textile companies have closed shop despite all the protectionist policies. “All the intervention funds, many of the manufacturers have not been able to pay them back.”

Speaking on Idahosa of LCCI statement, the government needs to do a great job by identifying the challenges facing the industry before anything can be done to improve local production and make the industry competitive among others.

“We need to address raw materials and the cost of power in a very significant manner, not this very little effort here and there that does not have a critical mass,” he said.

According to the report by Oxford Business Group, to have a great opportunity in the industry is through building the capacities of small and medium-sized (SMEs) which will help in achieving a lot.

“This can be done through training programs in priority areas (including supply, quality control, and marketing of textiles), preparing investment profiles to attract foreign direct investment in the textile sector, and providing information for micro-enterprises and SMEs in the region and buyers outside of African," it said.