Nigerian Textile & Garment Imports Soar 106% Over Four Years
Despite various intervention efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to prop up the domestic textile industry, Nigerian imports of textiles and apparels soared 106.7 percent over the past four years.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), imports of textile and garments which stood at Naira 182.5 billion in 2020 reached Naira 377.1 billion in 2023.
The data informed that imports continued to rise in the four year period to touch Naira 278.8 billion in 2021 and Naira 365.5 billion in 2022.
Since several years, CBN has offered financial support or implemented foreign exchange restriction on textile and clothing import to boost prospects of domestic industry, but they have not yielded results.
In the 1970’s, Nigeria had over 180 textile mills which employed millions of people. But a majority of these mills started closing down in the 1990’s.
This was mainly due to several challenges faced by these like hike in legal and illegal imports, energy shortages, and inconsistency in policy making.
A few days earlier, former President of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers John Adaji had said that 90 percent of textile and garments worth $4 billion are imported annually.
