Business
CBN sets up committee to revive textile industries within 4yrs
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday set up a committee for the revival of the country’s cotton, textile and garment industry.
This followed the earlier restriction of official forex supply to textile importers to boost local cotton/textile production.
The Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, at the inauguration of the Textile Revival Implementation Committee (TRIC), noted that the target was to revive and set up at least 50 textile companies by 2023.
“Nigeria remains a big market for textile industry. We need to reclaim this industry from smugglers. We need the support of customs and other authorities,” Emefiele said.
Part of the responsibility of the committee will include resuscitating the country’s cotton belt, identifying textile clusters, improving cotton production nationwide and boosting power supply to textile firms across the clusters.
The CBN governor mentioned that, if this happens, the over $2 billion annual loses to textile smuggling will be reversed.
Read also: STAMP DUTY: Reps threaten bank CEOs with bench warrant
He reiterated the commitment of the apex bank to partner with the Nigerian Customs Service to curb smuggling of textile goods; ensure general reduction of cost of doing business by eliminating multiple taxation; as well as ensure zero per cent duty for machineries needed by the textile industry.
He added that the bank had already engaged 100,000 cotton farmers to cultivate 100,000 hectares of cotton for the 2019 season. He noted that CBN was committed to resuscitate the sector as timeline had been set to achieving this.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...