Fashion industry will play key role in resurgence of economy — Radda

The Director General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr Dikko Umaru Radda, has said the fashion industry in Nigeria is one of the sectors that will play a key role in the resurgence of the economy given its current performance.

He made this assertion at the National Policy Dialogue on the fashion industry held recently in Abuja.

In a statement, Radda noted that government and the private sector must synergise to create a conducive operating environment that enhances the capacity of practitioners to unlock the benefits woven into the fabrics of the industry.

“The policy dialogue would envision the key and strategic roles the fashion industry must play in reviving the economy of the country given the promise it holds against the backdrop of its over two million practitioners spread across a national population estimated to be over 180 million.

“The opportunities are infinite as over two million direct and three million indirect jobs would be created,” Radda said.

Earlier, the founder and chief executive of Makulu Clothing Brand, Mr John Oke, said the Policy Dialogue was a public intervention of SMEDAN and his company.

He said it was to facilitate focused, broad-based discourse that will translate into developing a road map toward synergising the efforts of industry practitioners on one hand and the Federal Government of Nigeria to develop suitable policy frameworks that will stimulate growth across the fashion and clothing industry value chain.

Mr Oke noted that the primary objective was to critically examine Nigeria’s fashion and clothing ecosystem and proffer solutions to the myriad of challenges that are making it impossible for the country to explore to its benefit, the natural advantages it has in the 14 billion dollars industry.