Katsina, BUA to facilitate textile and garment cluster

05 Jun '17

3 min read

Katsina State Government and BUA Group have entered into agreement to facilitate development of 500 million dollars Katsina textile and garment cluster to boost diversification of the country’s economy. The cluster will comprise about 500 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and its multiplier effect is expected to go beyond Katsina and Nigeria borders.

The State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, agreed to cooperate with the billionaire industrialist and founder of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu, on the project during visit of BUA’s executive director, Kabir Rabiu, to Muhammadu Buhari House, Katsina. Masari has set up a committee led by his deputy, Mannir Yakubu, to facilitate the initiative and determine the suitable location of 500 hectares of land for project, according to Nigerian media reports.

Masari said the government was waiving all fees and taxes regarding the project and would also try to influence the federal government in this aspect, the reports said.

“Your coming is really in tandem with our plan in the North West to have an economic body that will propel this kind of agenda. I think Katsina was identified to produce cotton and rice as well as textile and garments,” Masari was quoted as saying in the reports.

The Katsina textile and garment cluster would boost diversification of the nation’s economy and its multiplier effect would go beyond Katsina and Nigeria borders, the governor said.

Kabir Rabiu said the conglomerate with enterprise value in excess of five billion dollars has decided to invest in the cluster as part of its efforts to make Nigeria’s textile industry viable. The infrastructural development of the project, expected to generate over 25,000 jobs, would commence soon after the ground breaking ceremony before the end of 2017, Rabiu said.

“Really, we have the resources to commence site infrastructural development as well as the anchor textile that we need to put in place within the cluster. We will divide it into two phases of 250 hectares each to get the development done as soon as possible. A lot of companies have already indicated interest in it. If you look at the garment industry, it is a huge sector. Nigeria imports 23 million pairs of jeans every year. If you see the cost of making it, it is nothing to write home about and we have the kind of cotton in this country to make jeans,” Rabiu stated.

Nigeria’s textile imports from China and India are valued at about four billion dollars. Nigeria could fix its ailing textile sector by developing textile and garment clusters as in other countries with thriving textile industry, Rabiu said.

Urging the federal government to initiate incentives for textile clusters, he said, “If you look at the percentage as in GDP, in some economies, textiles contribute about 90 per cent but the Nigerian textiles contribute may be less than two per cent.” (SV)

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