Textile sector recovery hinges on investment, not import ban alone

The Senate’s call for a total ban on textile imports as part of efforts to revive Nigeria’s once-thriving textile industry has sparked renewed concerns as experts decry that previous efforts to revive the sector has not yielded desired result.

The sector that once employed more than 500,000 Nigerians and contributed significantly to the nation’s economy has gained fresh attention, as the Senate last week urged the Federal Government to ban textile imports, arguing that the measure would help revive local production, create jobs, and reduce dependence on foreign products.

However, experts argue that a ban alone may not be enough to restore the fortunes of the textile sector, pointing to several government interventions over the years that failed to revive local production.

They note that over the past three decades, Nigeria has committed significant resources to the sector through initiatives such as the Textile Development Fund, the N100 billion Cotton, Textile and Garment Fund, foreign exchange restrictions on textile imports in 2019, and subsequent border closure measures.

Yet, despite these efforts, industry experts say the expected revival has largely failed to materialise, with most textile factories remaining dormant.

However, Adesoji Adesugba, Investment promotion and economic development expert, has cautioned that an outright import ban could prove counterproductive if not preceded by measures to rebuild the industry’s competitiveness.

Adesugba, a former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and National Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), argued that while the objective of reviving the textile industry is laudable, an immediate ban could create supply shortages and encourage smuggling.

According to him, Nigeria’s remaining textile mills currently lack the capacity to meet national demand, making a sudden prohibition of imports likely to widen the gap between demand and local production.

He warned that such a gap would provide opportunities for smugglers while depriving government of customs revenue.

“The Senate is right that our textile industry must be revived. But an immediate import ban would hand the market to smugglers and repeat thirty years of costly failure. There is a better way.

“A ban, in other words, does not protect Nigerian factories. It protects the smuggler’s margin. It turns ordinary traders into criminals, denies the treasury its revenue, and enriches our neighbours’ ports.

“And it punishes the very citizens it claims to serve, the tailors, designers and garment makers downstream who suddenly cannot find affordable cloth, and the ordinary buyer who pays more for less,” he stated

He noted that previous border restrictions and import controls failed to revive the industry despite substantial government interventions.

Adesugba attributed the decline of the textile sector to a combination of factors, including the collapse of local cotton production, high energy costs, obsolete machinery, expensive financing, porous borders and inconsistent industrial policies.

“cotton, power, machinery, finance, borders, and policy inconsistency. A ban cures not one of them. It treats the fever and ignores the infection. This is not theory

“Over roughly three decades, Nigeria has poured the better part of a billion dollars and more into reviving this sector, a Textile Development Fund, a 100 billion naira Cotton, Textile and Garment Fund, fund after fund under successive administrations, a foreign exchange ban on textile importers in 2019, the border closure that followed. The money was largely disbursed. The bans were duly imposed. And the mills stayed shut,” he added

Rather than an immediate ban, he advocated a phased industrial revival strategy focused on rebuilding cotton production, providing affordable electricity to manufacturers, ensuring access to low-interest financing, and developing integrated textile industrial parks.

He also recommended a gradual protection regime that would allow local manufacturers to expand capacity before stricter import restrictions are introduced.

Majeed Dahiru, Political affairs analyst, also stressed the need for a comprehensive industrial policy to support any effort aimed at reviving the textile industry.

According to him, the vision of restoring the sector is commendable but would require significant government investment, particularly in affordable energy and access to single-digit interest loans for manufacturers.

Dahiru noted that countries that dominate global textile production and exports have achieved success through deliberate government support and industrial prioritisation.

“it’s a good vision to go back to that era. But it will take a very serious, concise industrial policy that will see government itself making a heavy investment. Because one of the major drawbacks, apart from smuggling, apart from other factors, one of the major factors that mitigated against the textile industry in Nigeria and made it uncompetitive with China and India is one, cost of capital and high cost of energy,” he said

He recalled that the textile industry once served as a major economic driver across Kaduna, Kano and other northern cities, creating jobs, stimulating commerce and fostering national integration.

Similarly, Babajide Kolade-Otitoju, media analyst expressed support for measures aimed at restoring the industry, describing the collapse of textile manufacturing as a major setback for Nigeria’s industrial development.

He recalled that the country once had about 167 textile mills and more than 500,000 workers in the sector, with textile production making significant contributions to the Gross Domestic Product.

Kolade-Otitoju blamed the decline on unrestricted imports, weak policy support, smuggling and the failure to sustain intervention measures for struggling manufacturers.

He argued that local industries require protection to compete with foreign producers, pointing to protectionist measures adopted by countries such as the United States to safeguard strategic industries.

“Given our concern for consuming imported stuff, if we really want to help the local industries to survive, we have to protect the local industries. Protectionism is practiced everywhere in the world.

“So it’s for the government to invest heavily into that sector,” he noted