Textile Industry, crucial sector to revive Nigeria’s economy, to create employment

The Managing Director of the Ore Industrial Park, Dr Femi Akinkuebi, has identified the textile industry as a crucial sector for strengthening economic recovery, creating wealth for the nation and reducing unemployment substantially.

Akinkuebi who stated this during a tour to the Industrial Park, on Thursday, said there is an urgent need for government to boost the textile industry to revamp the industry through provisions of some infrastructural facilities.

According to him, giving attention to the sector will encourage people to take pride in investing in locally made products and this will help to boost the nation’s economy maintaining that the revival of Nigeria’s Textile Industry remains a factor in economic growth.

He noted that Nigeria is richly endowed with the much needed raw materials as well as the skills to globally promote made in Nigeria goods for viable economic gains, saying this will discourage Nigerians strong desire for imported materials.

He explained that if properly harnessed, the Textile industry can reduce over $4 billion in import bills annually, and save the nation’s hard earn foreign exchange while accelerating the industrial development of the country, and making Nigeria a global player in the textile and garment subsector

According to him, if the yearly import bill of $4 billion textile fabrics is re-invested into the textile industry, the country would be a net exporter and expand its revenue from programmes like the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) of the United States.

While explaining that Industry data showed that in 2019, 18.6 per cent of all imported cotton worldwide ended up in China, which made the country the largest exporter of textiles and clothing products in the world, disclosing that Chinese imports currently account for 60 per cent of the print fabric market in Africa, with India supplying an additional 21 per cent.

He further explained that West Africa is a large market for prints and buys around 65 per cent of all foreign imports. Nigerian demand accounts for around 38 per cent of total imports in the region.

In his words, “From materials knitting line/production of textiles auxiliary materials, like button, thread, stay down to clothing max production line, this industry has the capacity to employ over 500,000 workforces,” Akinkuebi said.

He enjoined the Nigerian government to leverage the economic opportunities provided by this sector to economically advance the nation and encourage Nigerians to take pride in patronizing and investing in locally made goods.

Dr Akinkuebi also appreciated the efforts of the Akeredolu led government in Ondo State for the creation of the Ore Industrial Park, which was designed to ensure rapid transformation in the state, noting that this has led many investors to come on board.

He said the facility which had commenced operations has the much-needed incentives to aid the manufacturing of locally made goods in the country.

He hinted that the OIP is an integral industrial city offering quality service and an enabling business environment stimulated with ultra-modern facilities and infrastructure.

However, Akinkuebi, said the park has its own installed 30MW Gas Power Plant with the gas supply, planned recreational areas with other facilities, adding that six companies have already begun operations in the production of various locally made products.

“OIP is designed in cluster arrangements in which textile and garment is one of them, so we encourage stakeholders in that sector to key into it, e.g setting up knitting line, bottom production, tread, linen, and other materials,” he added.

The Ore Industrial Park was built as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project and established on a massive 1000 hectares of eco-friendly, economic and industrially zoned land.

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Textile Industry, crucial sector to revive Nigeria’s economy, to create employment

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