DIRECTOR-GENERAL, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadri, has appealed to the Federal Government to relax the tough conditions attached to disbursement of the Textile Intervention Fund.
Ajayi Kadri, made the plea in an interview in Lagos on Sunday. He said that the appeal became necessary due to the bureaucracy and strict conditions surrounding the allocation of the fund,
saying that there was need to revitalise the textile industry.
“The textile industry had suffered a lot of bashing, especially as a result of smuggling and other infratructure deficiencies.
“At the moment, we do not have more than five textile industries working and they are functioning at low capacity.
The government had responded in terms of policy initiatives; the primary of which is the Textile Fund
anchored by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Ajayi-Kadri said that manufacturers were finding it difficult to benefit from the fund due to some
bottlenecks and strict conditions attached to it.
“As a result, we have been in contact and consultations with the CBN on some of these conditions.
“Our appeal is for the Federal Government to step in and make things a lot easier so that the end
point of revitalisation is not lost,’’ he said.
The MAN boss also urged the government to continue its effort at ensuring provision of basic infrastructure to reduce the cost of production by manufacturers.
He suggested inter-ministerial and inter-departmental cooperation for quick actualisation of the
proposed anti- smuggling task force to combat smuggling of textiles.