Agaju Madugba, Katsina
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Goodwin Emefiele, has lamented the nation’s annual spend of an estimated $4 billion on importation of textiles and ready made apparels despite having the potential to grow cotton used in the production of such materials. Emefiele who spoke while flagging off the distribution of seeds and other input to cotton farmers in Katsina State, for the 2019 planting season, under the umbrella union of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria, said the project sponsored by the CBN in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture was designed to revive the nation’s moribund cotton, textiles and garments industry.
“Today, due to the unfortunate activities of smugglers and dumpers, most of the factories mentioned above have all stopped operations, as only 25 textile factories are operating today, and the workforce in Nigeria’s textile industry presently stands at less than 20,000 people. In addition, a large proportion of our clothing materials are now being imported from China and countries in Europe.
“Today, Nigeria currently spends about $4billion annually on imported textiles and ready-made clothing.
“With a projected population of over 190 million Nigerians, the needs of the domestic market are huge and varied, with immense prospects for growth of the domestic textile industries.”
Describing the launch as a “milestone event,” Emefiele explained that the choice of Katsina was due to its position as a leading cotton producing State in the country. ‘The cotton and textiles industry, given its immense potential, is indeed vital to our growth objectives as a nation, and to our efforts at creating jobs for a large number of Nigerians.” the CBN boss said.
According to Emefiele, “on assumption of office in June 2014, I indicated in my inaugural speech that one of my key objectives as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is to build a people focused Central Bank. In addition to a focus on key macroeconomic concerns such as lower inflation and exchange rate stability, I believed that the Central Bank ought to play a more important role in supporting Nigeria’s economic development, given the constraints faced by rural farmers, SMES and manufacturing companies.
“More importantly, we believe that CBN’s intervention which is aimed at import substitution will help in conserving scarce foreign exchange for Nigeria.
“We have placed considerable emphasis on addressing impediments to the growth of Nigeria’s agricultural and manufacturing sectors, as both sectors represent over 52 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP.
“If we are able to drive productivity gains in these sectors, it will undoubtedly translate to higher growth rate for the broader economy, result in increased rural incomes, and improvements in living standards for a majority of Nigerians.
