Nigeria: Stakeholders, Govt Divided Over Framework to Revive Nigeria’s Textile Industry

Stakeholders in Nigeria’s cotton, textile and garment (CTG) sector have raised concerns over the implementation of measures to revive the industry, particularly the uncertainty around the institutional framework to coordinate its recovery.

The stakeholders, representing farmers, processors, manufacturers and other operators in the value chain, said the sector was facing declining cotton production, idle ginneries, struggling textile mills, financial distress and increasing dependence on imported fabrics.

At the centre of the disagreement is the decision of the National Economic Council (NEC), at its 149th meeting on April 24, 2025, to approve the establishment of a Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Board (CTGDB) as a national coordinating institution.

The proposed board was to be private-sector-driven and domiciled in the Presidency, with representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, and Industry, Trade and Investment, as well as governors representing the six geopolitical zones.

However, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) is pursuing a different institutional arrangement–a Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Council under its supervision.

In his analysis of the sector, development specialist, Eneojo Herbert Idakwo said the disagreement had moved beyond the question of reopening textile mills.

“It is no longer simply about reopening textile mills. It has become a debate over governance, institutional leadership and the most effective model for rebuilding a value chain stretching from cotton farms in northern Nigeria to garment factories serving domestic and export markets.”

The stakeholders argued that the CTG value chain was too broad to be coordinated solely under one ministry because it cuts across agriculture, finance, manufacturing, trade, planning and state governments.

They said the uncertainty had come at a critical time, with Nigeria’s cotton production reportedly falling to less than 10,000 metric tonnes annually, compared with about 300,000 metric tonnes recorded during the industry’s peak.

Nigeria has about 26 ginneries, but many are reportedly operating far below capacity or have become idle because of an inadequate supply of cotton. The shortage of raw materials has also affected textile manufacturers, while garment producers increasingly rely on imported fabrics.

Idakwo argued that the sector’s problems could not be addressed by focusing on one segment of the value chain.

“The CTG value chain extends beyond any single institution’s mandate,” he wrote, stressing that cotton production, financing, manufacturing, trade, infrastructure and exports require coordinated action from several government institutions.

The stakeholders further expressed concern over the reported receivership of some textile companies and ginneries indebted to the Bank of Industry (BoI), arguing that aggressive financial enforcement could further weaken an already distressed industry.

Responding to questions on the issues, the ministry said it supported the establishment of a single national institution to coordinate the sector but maintained that the major disagreement was over its structure, legal basis, and supervisory arrangement.

The ministry explained that the proposal for a Development Council originated from the National Council on Industry, Trade and Investment in 2021 as part of an institutional reform agenda.

It acknowledged the NEC’s subsequent approval of the Development Board in 2025, but said the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation had initiated a harmonisation process to produce a unified framework.

On cotton production, the ministry denied that it had announced or administered a dedicated financing programme for the 2025 planting season.

It said the revival of domestic cotton production required coordinated interventions covering agriculture, financing, extension services, inputs and industrial demand, adding that it was collaborating with the Bank of Agriculture on a Cotton Input Supply Financing Framework.

The ministry also said the challenges facing textile companies were structural and had accumulated over decades, stressing that meaningful transformation could not be achieved within a short period.

It listed the National Cotton, Textile and Garment Industrial Transformation Programme, a value-chain activation pilot, a revised National Fibre, Textile and Apparel Policy, collaboration with ministries and agencies, development partners and initiatives on financing, infrastructure, standards, skills and investment promotion as part of efforts to rebuild the sector.

The ministry argued that its priority was to establish the policy and institutional foundations required for sustainable recovery, rather than focusing solely on immediate increases in cotton production.

However, Idakwo noted that policy development alone would not be enough to demonstrate that the sector was recovering.

“Institutional reform provides the framework; production provides evidence it is working,” he said, arguing that progress should ultimately be reflected in increased cotton production, functioning ginneries, textile mills returning to production and growth in garment manufacturing.

Nigeria once had about 180 textile mills and produced hundreds of thousands of tonnes of cotton annually, with the industry providing employment to hundreds of thousands of people directly and supporting millions across farming, transportation and trading communities.

The sector’s decline has been attributed to cheap imports, smuggling, unstable power supply, high production costs, inadequate infrastructure, limited access to affordable finance, foreign exchange challenges and declining domestic cotton production.

According to the stakeholders, the decline in cotton production has created a chain reaction across the industry.

They said inadequate cotton supply has reduced ginnery utilisation, while textile mills struggle to obtain yarn and fabric manufacturers increasingly turn to imports.

They argued that reviving cotton farming through improved seeds, access to inputs, financing, extension services and guaranteed markets would provide the foundation for rebuilding the downstream textile and garment industries.

On the issue of receivership, the stakeholders questioned whether financial enforcement alone could resolve the problems confronting textile companies whose difficulties were partly linked to the wider collapse of the value chain.

The ministry, however, maintained that the financial difficulties of many companies were part of structural problems accumulated over decades and that the government’s intervention was designed to address the sector on a medium- to long-term basis.

Idakwo observed that the issue required a balance between financial discipline and preservation of productive capacity.

He argued that factories that close permanently could be more expensive to rebuild because machinery deteriorates, skilled workers left and supply chains disappear.

By Daily Trust.