Revival of Nigerian textile sector can cut redundancy

16 Oct '12

2 min read

The Nigerian textile industry has the potential of bringing the redundancy rate in the country to minimum, Jayeola Olanrewaju, National Chairman of Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association, has said.

Speaking at the fifth National Conference and the first International Conference of Textile Manufacturers in Nigeria, he said, there has been a sharp decline in Nigerian textile industry in recent years, which has led to large-scale closures in the industry and subsequent redundancy.

Delivering a keynote address titled “Global Textile and the Market: The Role of Textile Cottage Industry in the Developing Economy”, Mr. Olanrewaju said an emerging economy like Nigeria should utilize its resources in an efficient manner.

Textile industries in developing Asian countries post a four percent average annual growth rate, which is higher than the one percent growth rate that Nigerian home and apparel textiles post every year, he said.

However, the domestic cottage textile industry has a potential to act as a catalyst to enhance capacity and financial strength of domestic youth.

He said the Government should revive the domestic textile industry as it has real potential to address the issue of human and national economic growth, which can be achieved by reviving the infrastructural facilities to ensure production of quality fabrics in an efficient manner.

Nigerian textile and apparel industry is continuously trying to come out with innovative ideas, however, obsolete infrastructure of majority of the units is holding back the industrial growth, Mr. Olanrewaju said. Hence, he called on the Government to resuscitate the domestic textile industry and promote locally made fabrics.

According to Mr. Olanrewaju, adequate flow of investment in the textile industry could lead to diversification, which would help the domestic industry to gain entry in the highly competitive international market.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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