Nigeria Attracted N3.5bn Textile Investment, Created 4,000 Job Opportunities ––Minister

The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, has said that the Federal Government has secured $3.5 billion in investments in a year to boost Nigeria’s textile, cotton, and clothing sectors.

This was disclosed in a statement by the minister at the ministerial press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to Uzoka-Anite, this investment is part of the Ministry’s initiative to revive the moribund textile industry.

She said Nigeria’s textile industry encompasses the entire clothing value chain.

The Minister stated that in Nigeria, investment in the textile sector would create employment for both skilled and unskilled labour.

She said “The Ministry is developing a resurgence plan for the Nigeria cotton, textile and apparel industry in partnership with development partners and private sector players. We have attracted $3.5 billion to unlock the textile, cotton, and apparel industry.

“As you know, Nigeria’s textile and apparel industry covers the entire clothing value chain and has a strong potential for growth due to the availability of cotton and the country’s market size.

“This industry is one of the top contributors to the manufacturing sector of the economy with huge potential for employment for both skilled and unskilled labour with extensive capacity for generating export earnings and attracting foreign direct investment, therefore reducing poverty.”

The Nigerian Labour Congress, in March, slammed the country’s textile sector for its declining position and questioned how over 150 billion dollars of Federal Government intervention in the industry.

Despite the huge market potential of cotton production in Nigeria, the textile sector continues to struggle.

The textile sector had lots of productive firms in the past, which include United Nigerian Textile Limited, Aswani Textile, Afprint, Asaba Textile Mills, and Edo Textile Mills, among others.

However, the majority of these companies have gone under, basically due to unfavourable economic climate and government policies.

According to the latest data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, textiles contributed a negative 1.75% in GDP during the first quarter of 2024 which makes them one of Africa’s least-performing sectors.