Textile, footwear manufacturers invest N18.1bn in 3 years

The textile and footwear makers pumped a total of N18.10 billion into the Nigerian economy between 2013 and 2015, according to the 2015 Economic Review of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).

The report shows that the investors put N9.46 billion into the sector in the first half of 2014 and N2.95 billion in the second half of the same year. However, only N400.9 million was invested in the first half of 2015. There was no record of investment in the second half of 2015. The rest of the investments were made in 2013, when there was economic boom.

Though the names of investors were not mentioned in the report, Real Sector Watch estimation shows that the majority of footwear investors are based in Aba, Abia State capital; Lagos, and Kano.

Footwear makers encompass producers of shoes and slippers, while the textile group is made up of makers of apparel, as well as carpet and rug manufacturers.

Some of the surviving companies in the textile industry include Spintex Mills Nigeria Limited, Nichemtex Plc, Lucky Fibres Plc, Femro Limited, and African Textile Manufacturers Limited, among others.

Textile industry is bedevilled by importation of cheap fabrics and poor perception of consumers who believe locally-made fabrics are inferior to imported ones.

Ping-Man Chun, CEO, Nichemtex, said recently that poor patronage of local textiles and smuggling were pushing companies out of business.

According to Kemi Ajibade, head of human resources at Lucky Fibres, influx of substandard products  had dealt a big blow on the textile firm.

Ajibade said the company sourced some inputs locally but it was difficult to import the rest of the raw materials owing to foreign exchange crisis.

She said the situation in the power sector had spiked the firm’s production costs, stressing that the company could contribute more to the economy if given the required support.

She called on the government ministries to patronise quality carpets and rugs produced by the company, lamenting that high energy prices were stifling the company.

Aba is Nigeria’s footwear hub, with industry estimated at N96 billion.

The sub-sector is mainly informal, limiting the potential and capacity of manufacturers in the city to make bigger local and global impact.

One million pairs of shoes are churned out each week by averagely 70,000 manufacturers in Aba, according to figures obtained from heads of various groups in Ariaria Market, which is Nigeria’s shoes hub.

Players are hard hit by foreign exchange crisis, which is preventing them from importing synthetic leather and adhesives.

Northern producers of animal skins prefer to sell to European companies, rather than shoe makers in Aba. The reason is that Europe pays higher than local manufacturers.

“Once the tanneries are through with production, they export the entire finished leather to the detriment of local leather works manufacturers. This is affecting the finished leather sector in Lagos, Onitsha and especially the Aba cluster,” Ken Anyanwu, national secretary, Association of Leather and Allied Industrialists of Nigeria (ALAIN) told BusinessDay.