The Central Bank of Nigeria has set up a committee for the revival of the country’s cotton, textile and garment industry, with the mandate to revive and set up a minimum of 50 textile firms by 2023.
The apex bank had in March announced an immediate restriction of textile importers from accessing foreign exchange from the official windows in a clear bid to discourage further importation. CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, while inaugurating the committee Thursday, expressed concern that the country loses $2 billion annually to textile smuggling and export, stressing that it was time the country revived the sector in order to take advantage of the massive opportunities therein.
He said the Textile Revival and Implementation Committee had the responsibility of resuscitating the country’s cotton belt, identify textile clusters, improve cotton production nationwide and boost power supply to textile firms across the clusters. The Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Bala Barnabas, and Jigawa State Deputy Governor, Ibrahim Hassan were present at the inauguration.