Textile imports cost N261b yearly-Texglobe

Textile imports cost N261b yearly

Updated: 2011-11-7 Source: www.thenationonlineng.net

Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA) has said the country spends over N261 billion yearly on textile materials importation.

This has led to the reduction in the number of indigenous textile firms from the 250 to less than 10.

Speaking with The Nation, the Director-General, NTMA, Jaiyeola Olarewaju, said　 the country loses billions of naira to smugglers of textiles and importation of cheap and substandard fabrics from Asian countries.

Olarenwaju said the textile sector is stagnated, attributing the situation to the smuggling of cheap textiles which the local industry is unable to compete, given the higher cost of production locally.

He said variants of local fabrics are being produced and exported from China to West Africa with Made-in-Nigeria or Made-in-Nigeria labels pasted on them.

On the sacking of some agencies from the ports, he said the government should be cautious on the matter, adding that adequate policy that will protect the interest of the textile manufacturers should be put in place to check unbridled importation of textiles.

"Federal Government’s decision to sack the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) from the ports is going to further worsen the problems facing textile industry. We agreed that the government’s intention is to fast-track the clearing of goods, but the implication　 will also compound the problems of the sector, unless the government comes up with a policy that will protect the interest of the local manufacturers," Olarenwaju, said.　