After five years of dithering and closure of a majority of textile enterprises, the Nigerian government has finally released the first installment of the N100 billion textile revival funds.
The Minister of Commerce, Achike Udenwa announced that N10 billion has been released to the Bank of Industry (BoI) as capital funds against the N100 billion textile revival fund.
Earlier in the year, the government had increased the textile revival fund from the previously proposed amount of N70 billion to N100 billion.
BoI has been appointed as the operating bank for disbursing the funds to the distressed textile sector and the funds are expected to help provide a boost to the cotton, textile and clothing sectors.
At its peak in the 1980's the textile industry provided direct employment to over 250,000 people and indirect employment to millions, which now is a mere shadow of that figure. The current figure is around just 25,000.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India