BAIL OUT

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin
Emefiele, on Friday disclosed that the central bank
was planning a fresh bailout for the textile industry in
order to revive it to become a major employer of
labour. He said the planned intervention fund would
come in a single-digit interest rate and long- tenured
loans to players in the sector particularly those in the
cotton, textile and garment segments. Emefiele
stated this at a CBN-initiated stakeholders meeting
with players in the industry. The governor said the
objective of the meeting was to see how the CBN
could revive the textile industry and place it on the
path of sustainable growth for the country. He said,
"A sub-sector that once employed over one million
hardworking Nigerians is now almost completely
dominated by imports from Asia. We are all aware of
the challenges that have beset and continue to plague
the industry and I am under no illusion that this
meeting will immediately resolve these issues. "The
central bank under my leadership is prescribing to
work with the industry to come up with holistic
solutions for the long- term sustainable development
of the sector. I can assure you that the bank is ready
to provide funding under our Real Sector Support
Facility for the industry. "Mr. President is committed
to the rejuvenation and revival of this sector and he
is desirous of bringing this industry back to life." He
added, "This in my humble opinion is the crux of this
meeting, which I will like us to keenly deliberate
upon. How for instance, can we get cotton farmers to
increase their output, reducing dependency on
imports? Or how can all stakeholders form a strong
advocacy to create a more enabling environment for
the sector to thrive once again? I am confident that
with our collective efforts, we can finally change the
sad narratives about this industry. The CBN
governor, however, stressed that the problems that
had stunted the growth of the textile industry was far
beyond funding. As a way of solving some of the
problems facing the sector, Emefiele said he had
recently met with the Comptroller General of the
Nigeria Customs Service, as part of the efforts to
tackle smuggling of textile goods. He said it was
disheartening that an industry that literally touched
the fabric of the entire country now pales in the
shadow of its past success. Emefiele pointed out that
the human needs for clothing and the competitive
advantage of the country had made the sector a
formidable one in the country's path to industrialisati
on in the 1970s and 1980s. During this era, he noted
that the textile industries were spread across the
country, with many mills located in Kaduna, Lagos,
Funtua, Gusau, Asaba, Aba, Kano and a host of other
cities. He explained, "There were well over 159
vibrant textile mills operating at close to full
production capacities. Indeed, Kaduna was known as
the 'Textile City' of the country, because of the
preponderance of huge integrated textile mills
domiciled in the city. Unfortunately, these glory days
are now distant memories."
Thepanacea Reports
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