The federal
government has unveiled measures aimed at tackling some of the
industrial constraints in the nation’s textile sector.
Part of the
strategies being employed aim to from the drift of companies leaving the
country and stop smuggling and counterfeiting-and prioritise patronage
of made-in-Nigeria products by agencies of government .
The Minister
of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, gave
the hint at the weekend during a tour of textile factories in Kano as
part of activities during the North-west Regional Customer Forum.
The forum,
which was organised by the Bank of Industry (BoI) has as its theme: ‘The
Role of Financial Institutions in driving the industrial development of
a nation: A-Z of accessing BOI’s credit facility.’
Apart from
this, the development finance institution has been at the vanguard of
reviving the once moribund sector, having approved loans to over 70
projects in the CTG value chain.
Abubakar
toured the factories in company of the President of Manufacturers
Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Frank Jacobs, the General Secretary of
the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of
Nigeria, Isah Aremu and the General Manager of BOI, Mr. Joseph Babatunde, among other dignitaries.
Speaking
during the event, the minister said government had identified several
issues including gas supply, smuggling and counterfeiting as constraints
which would be addressed to revive the textile industry in the country.
She said: “Some of the issues we are trying to address are the issues of smuggling
and counterfeiting. Gas supply to the North. We are also trying to
address the issue of patronage. On the issue of patronage, I am sure
that by next year we will see more results because they also told us
that special interests have come forward to them.”
She urged
the operators to articulate their thoughts on how to move the industry
forward and ensure that the critical role of the sector in the nation’s
economy is sustained.
She said some of the things textiles manufacturers were asking for were not in line
with government thinking at the moment, added that there was the need
for stakeholders to find a common ground that would ensure that
stakeholders are accountable and responsible in order to achieve the
needed growth in the industry.
Abubakar noted that the Export Expansion Grants (EEG) previously offered as incentives by government was grossly abused by stakeholders, adding that government was looking at bringing it back in an entirely different way for better and effective implementation.
She said:
“You know the EEG was so much abused. The EEG is going to come back but
it is going to come back in a different way. And I don’t know what is
going to happen to what is outstanding. We are trying to look at
different ways to make it easy for those who have really done what they
were supposed to do.
“A lot of
verifications, a lot of audit is still on going for us to see what we
can do because we generally believe in EEG. But the implementation of it
has not been done well. There is no government that can do anything
without incentives, so EEG is coming back.”
The minister
visited five textile manufacturing plants including African Textile
Manufacturing Limited, Nigerian Spinners and Dyerrs Limited, Tofa
Textile Limited, Tertex Nigeria Limited, and Adhama Textile and Garment
Industries Limited.
It was
gathered that all the plants visited were under serious operational
distress with some threatening to close down due to unfriendly business
environment emanating from inconsistency in government policies among
other issues.
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