117,000 Jobs Lost in Nigeria's Textile Industry in 26 Years, Says Textile Association

155 industrial textile firms shut down after 37 years

The Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA) has revealed that over 117,000 jobs in the nation's textile industry have been lost in the past 26 years. According to the association, the textile sector could lose more jobs if the federal government does not intervene urgently to salvage the ailing industry.

NTMA President, Mr. Folorunsho Daniyan, at a press briefing on the state of the textile industry in Nigeria and its lack of competitive edge, noted that the industry used to be the highest employer of labour, apart from the federal government in the 1980s. At its peak, the textile industry had a manpower of 500,000 workers.

He added that its membership had shrunk from 175 firms in 1985 to less than 20 in 2022.

"Employment-wise, the number of jobs provided by the industry took a dive from 137,000 jobs in 1996 to 24,000 jobs in 2008. Today the number of jobs provided in the industry is less than 20,000 jobs," explained Daniyan.

The NTMA president also stated that Nigerian textiles used to be exported to West and Central Africa but suffered a setback between 2003 and 2008.

"Textile exports reached their lowest ebb in 2006. However, it recovered some lost ground in 2007 and 2008. Today, the situation is even worse as our exportability is next to zero," he added.

Highlighting the major factors responsible for the industry's declining export capacity, Daniyan narrowed them down to the loss of preferential market access in the EU and US, inconsistent implementation of Export Expansion Grant policy, particularly a perennial backlog of EEG claims, and the inconsistencies in the implementation of ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme.