- FG’s determination is good, but we must avoid past pitfalls
Last week, the Federal Government put in concrete gear, its long advertised plan to revive the cotton, textile and garment sector with the tour by the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Enoh, of key textile sites in Kaduna State. The tour which had officials of the Bank of Industry (BOI) in tow would appear deserving of the more than the passing attention given it by most Nigerians considering, first its historic role as a key player in the national economy, and secondly, the terrible fate that has befallen it.
Here is a sector which at the height of its splendour, had a 600,000-strong work force operating close to 170 textile mills across the country, providing livelihood for about 20 percent of the population, currently boasting of barely 20 to 25 mills, most of which operate below capacity.
Of course, the fate of the 1.3 million cotton growers in the cotton production belt, most of who depend on the firms in the situation, can only be imagined. From a once upon a time impressive gross domestic product (GDP) of 25 per cent, we saw the sector plunge to barely 1.63 percent (N1.247 trillion) in 2023. In fact, in Q1’24, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) noted that the sector contributed a negative 1.75 percent to GDP, making it one of the underperforming sectors in the country.
And from being a one-time second largest hub in Sub-Saharan Africa behind South Africa, accounting for 63 percent of the textile capacity in the sub-region at the time, it is currently a net importer of textile products from Asia.
The other part of the textile sector story easily taken for granted is that the years of direct interventions, each cycle of which had cost the Federal Government hundreds of billions of naira, actually availed the sector little respite.
Now, the Bola Tinubu administration, in conjunction with the BOI is set to change the narrative under a programme that aims to localise up to $4bn in spending on textile imports, fostering economic growth, creating jobs, and boosting local manufacturing capabilities.
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In the words of BOI managing director/chief executive officer, Olasupo Olusi, “Our goal is to create hope and renew interest in a sector that was once a major employer of labour. It is a crucial step toward rebuilding the economy.” We couldn’t agree more with the BOI chief: Nigeria’s garment sector in particular, not only stands among the most dynamic in the world, the synergy between the disparate parts of the sector has only remained a vast ocean of promises.
At this time, our concern is whether anything has changed from previous initiatives on the basis of which citizens can anchor their optimism of positive outcomes this time around. In other words, why did those previous efforts – also celebrated as well-conceived at the time – flounder? Can we now say that the appropriate lessons have been learnt?
Of course, a major component in any plan to get the sector on its feet would have to be finance. With most of the technologies currently in use outdated and the machines obsolete, an industry-wide retooling would have to be a major priority. This will obviously extend to the working capital, as indeed the need for a programme to overhaul the value chain – bottom up – to bring the cotton growers into the loop.
Yet, as important as these are in the revitalisation plan, issues of infrastructure, particularly of power and logistics, should rank no less in the order of priority, considering that these have been at the heart of the country’s inability to compete, either locally or internationally.
But then, the biggest headache remains the smuggling of cheap, substandard imports from Asia through our porous borders. So powerful is the cartel behind them that successive attempts to stamp out their activities have remained fruitless. Being the particular area where the government’s resolve would have to be tested most, any failure on its part can only in the end, lead to disastrous outcomes for the turnaround plan.
In all, we urge the government and BOI to pay close attention to these issues as they plod on with the revitalisation plan.
