- FG to revamp Nigeria’s moribund textile industry for economic transformation
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, last week during a meeting with the visiting executive director of the International Cotton Advisory Committee, Eric Trachtenberg, said the Federal Government is ready to revive the county’s cotton/textile sector. In this report, FESTUS OKOROMADU highlights the urgency needed to actualise that promise.
The Federal Government last week announced that it had entered into collaboration with the International Cotton Advisory Committee to kick start the resuscitation of the Nigerian textile industry.
Experts said the initiative which is coming on the heels of a nationwide protest by Nigerians over hunger and bad governance, if given the necessary support to bring it to actualization, could as well become the turning point of the nation’s economy.
According to a statement by the government, the planned rejuvenation of the cotton and textile industry is expected to create 1.4 million jobs annually.
To actualise this, the government said the focus will be to develop key components of the cotton value chain comprising farming, weaving, ginning and linking of cotton.
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima who led the government team to receive the ICAC delegation team under the leadership of its Executive Director, Eric Trachtenberg, stated that the planned revival of the sector is in line with the industrialisation drive of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Conscious of the enormous task of revitalising the cotton/textile industry due to its dilapidated state, Shettima noted that “it is time to work more and talk less.”
However, no one in that meeting captured the urgent need to work the talk better than Trachtenberg when he said, “The potentials in the cotton value chain are huge and have proven to be transformative.”
He described the cotton and textile industry as one that offers a competitive advantage, economic transformation and a product that is very competitive both domestically and internationally, with the possibility to generate high-quality jobs for now and the future.
As for revamping the country’s cotton value chain, the ICAC chief said his organisation would support it by offering expert advice in improving productivity and boosting the value chain and investment facilitation.
“Available records show that the country which hosted over 167 textile mills spread across various industrial cities like Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Aba and Asaba can no longer boast of 25 textile mills”
Prospects of the global textile market
According to a report released by Worldmetrics.org in late July, the value of the global textile industry market is expected to hit $1.2 trillion by 2025.
The report further indicated that Asia Pacific is the largest region in the global textile market, accounting for over 50 percent of the market share.
“The apparel segment is the largest end-use segment in the global textile market, with a market share of over 60 percent.
“Sustainability and eco-friendly practices are driving innovation in the global textile industry.
“The global textile and apparel industry is one of the largest consumer goods industries in the world.
“China is the largest textile exporter in the world, accounting for a significant share of global textile trade.
“The global textile industry employs millions of people worldwide, particularly in developing countries, among others,” the report stated.
Cotton industry in West Africa
In its May edition of “Cotton Review of the World Situation,” a publication of the ICAC, cotton was described as a critical product for the West Africa region.
According to the report, “The contribution of cotton to the total gross domestic product, employment, and the share of cotton in total agriculture export revenue are some of the highest in the world.”
The report also stated that the region will account for 12 percent of total world cotton lint exports in the 2023/24 season. Unfortunately, 90 percent of cotton lint produced in the region is exported while a few countries are now striving to explore value addition in the cotton-textile value chain.
Meanwhile, the region is expected to export approximately 1.18 million metric tons (mt) of cotton lint in the 2023/24 session, marking a 33 percent increase from the previous season, driven by a 30 percent uptick in cotton production.
However, the most unfortunate aspect of the report is that Nigeria is not part of the countries harnessing this lucrative business despite its rich historical past in the cotton/textile industry.
Review of Nigeria’s cotton/textile industry
Although Nigeria has a rich history of transactions in the cotton and textile industry which predate the advent of colonial rules, the sector became one of the main drives of the nation’s economy in the 1970s and 80s.
But like almost every other sector of the economy, the discovery of crude oil amidst other factors led to its neglect resulting in a negative consequence.
Available data shows that cotton production in Nigeria dates back to 1903 with the British Cotton Growers Association until 1974 when it was disbanded and replaced by the Cotton Marketing Board. The cultivation of cotton was concentrated within the Savannah belts of the country with states like Kano, Kaduna, Kastina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara Oyo and Ondo topping the chart.
Commercially, cotton is a very viable cash crop for the farmer and has a high industrial value as the bolls of cotton fibre are processed and spun into yarn for textiles; cottonseed is crushed to produce cooking oil and oilseed cake that is used as animal feed because of its high protein content.
In 2010, Nigeria had an annual production capacity of approximately 0.6 million metric tons but the figure is said to have nose-dived by 51.6 percent as of 2017, thus, plunging export earnings from cotton in Nigeria significantly to $6.07 million in 2017 from close to $570 million in 2010.
While the decline in cotton production in Nigeria is attributed to many factors such as low yields, poor quality seeds, high production costs and weak government support, the dependent industry suffered a more devastating fate.
For instance, the textile industry employed over 500,000 persons in 1980 making it the third employer of labour apart from agriculture and the government now employs about 20,000 persons.
Available records show that the country which hosted over 167 textile mills spread across various industrial cities like Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Aba and Asaba can no longer boast of 25 textile mills.
The implication is that Nigeria now depends on imports for its textile needs to the detriment of its local economy.
Experts’ perspectives
According to the Director General of the Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association, Hamman Kwajafa, the decline is attributable to outright counterfeiting of textile fabrics produced in Nigeria.
He noted that Nigeria’s porous borders allowed massive smuggling of textile materials to thrive, in addition to Nigerians’ taste for foreign textiles.
“What brought about the decline in the numbers of textile mills was the fact that smugglers came in, bringing products without paying due duties to the government. Some of the products smuggled into the country were outright counterfeit. They have them cyclostyled in China and smuggled back to Nigeria in millions of meters and sell them at prices that are cheaper than our local products. You can get five yards of these smuggled fabrics at N1, 000 in our markets. No Nigerian textile mill can produce at that price. This led to people thinking that local products are inferior not knowing that they are buying counterfeited products. They couldn’t differentiate the locally manufactured textiles and counterfeited ones.
“Another issue was how our regulatory agencies handled the industry. Goods come in easily through the borders because of the manual operations and nobody is questioning them.
“At a point, we are not able to sell our products in the Nigerian domestic market and we cannot also export. Most manufacturers have the intention of exporting their products but cannot do so because of the high cost of production. Our overhead cost is very high. Because of this, we cannot sell at the rate smugglers are selling. We cannot break even. It seems we are in the charity business. But smugglers are coming in. They do not pay workers, taxes and power. That is why they can sell cheaper. But we bear these costs and still have problems with patronage,” he told The Point in an interview.
Kwajafa who applauded the latest move by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to revive the industry, noted that if the government is truly committed to the discussions with ICAC and works the talk as the Vice President stated, it will be a welcome development.
“The government knows the issues constraining the sector; it only needs the political will and commitment to make it happen.
“Imagine the opportunities the cotton/textile industry has to offer, from the cultivation of cotton to manufacturing textile products to the tailoring subsector as well as export of finished products and the jobs to be created directly and indirectly.”
On his part, the President of the Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association, Folorunsho Daniyan, believes that only the government can rescue the textile industry.
“The future of the Nigerian textile industry depends on the willpower of the government to protect it. The potential is here. This protection will require measures to checkmate smuggling and unwholesome trade practices that are rife in the country’s textile market, including product counterfeiting,” he told The Point.
In the meeting between the Federal Government and the ICAC team, Daniyan who expressed optimism on the proposal said the government needs to be fast in implementing the necessary measures to rescue the industry very fast.
Speaking to the strategies required to revive the textile industry, an expert in manufacturing, Joseph Aderibigbe listed factors such as boosting local cotton sourcing, provision of improved seeds, mechanisation of cotton farming, export focus, promotion of cottage industries, adaptation of modern technology by local textile mills as well as support for the local fashion industry.
According to him, the government has to address the issues around smuggling and counterfeiting of products among other key policy issues.
Aderibigbe insists that the Nigerian cotton/textile industry holds substantial potential for growth despite the challenges it has experienced in the past.
“With its strong manufacturing history, abundant labour, domestic cotton production potentials and the fast-growing fashion industry, Nigeria possesses the key fundamentals to dominate the West African textile market.
“What is important at this point is for the state governments to be at the forefront of the resuscitation drive. Like the three regional governments that drove the post-independence era initiative to lead to the establishment of the now moribund textile mills across the nation, the states should take up the challenge this time around.
“The states can do this through encouraging farmers’ participation, provision of productive cotton seeds as well as cottage industries around cotton production. While the Federal Government focuses on the bigger issues of supportive policies, tackling smuggling and other relevant issues,” he stated.
“The future of the Nigerian textile industry depends on the willpower of the government to protect it. The potential is here. This protection will require measures to checkmate smuggling and unwholesome trade practices that are rife in the country’s textile market, including product counterfeiting”
States pledge commitment
Going by the promises made by state governors who were present at the meeting with the ICAC executive director in Abuja last week, one is optimistic that something positive is about to happen.
For instance, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State in his remark at the meeting said his state was well positioned to harness opportunities in the cotton value chain, given that it hosts the factories and the market and is a critical component of the business ecosystem for the cotton sub-sector.
He said Lagos, as an integral part of the cotton value chain in Nigeria, will support every effort by stakeholders to revamp the sector to enable the state to sustain its status as the largest fashion hub in the continent.
The governor expressed excitement at the possibility and opportunity for the resuscitation of the cotton and textile sector with a particular focus on job creation and economic transformation.
Governor Sanwo-Olu pledged the state’s readiness to off take cotton produced in other parts of the country for companies based within the area.
On his part, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State said the meeting with the delegation from the ICAC is the beginning of Nigeria’s quest to revamp the textile industry as part of the broad objective for industrializing the economy.
He said Imo State and the Southeastern region will key into the renewed effort to revamp the cotton/textile sector with the bid to create jobs for the people and the overall industrialization drive of the country.
According to him, “the opportunity created by the meeting is a new beginning in our quest for industrial recovery and creation of jobs for our teeming youths as well as an opportunity for a new partnership.”
Overall, the citing of examples of how China, India, Pakistan and other parts of the world have harnessed the potentials in the cotton value chain to transform their economy and inspire growth is a proven testimony of the transformative nature of the cotton/textile industry.
It only remains to be seen whether the Federal Government will indeed walk the talk as promised.
