Given our love for clothing and fabrics and the assorted manner of cultural attires we wear, it is inexplicable that Nigeria is not the world leading manufacturer of textiles

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigerians have among the most diverse array of textiles in the world. It is beyond belief that the sector is not one of the nation’s biggest sources of foreign exchange

[2] There is absolutely no reason why Nigeria’s revenue from the exports of lace, adire, guinea brocade, atiku, ankara, etc does not match crude oil receipts. We should be mass-producing finished products and exporting them to retail outlets all over the world

[3] India is among the world's largest producers of textiles and apparels, which contributes approximately 2.3 % to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP)

[4] Over the course of 2020/21, textile, apparel and handicrafts accounted for about 11% of India’s total exports. This made India the fourth largest exporter of textiles and apparels in the world

[5] India is one of the largest producers of cotton and jute in the world. India is also the second largest producer of silk and 95% of the world’s hand-woven fabrics come from India

[6] Just to appreciate how huge this industry is, India’s technical textiles segment is estimated at $16bn, approximately making it the fifth largest market in the world

[7] India’s textiles and apparel industry is the country’s second largest employer, providing direct employment to 45m people and 100m people in allied industries

[8] India’s textile industry is expected to reach $250bn market size by 2030

[9] During the course of 2022/23 year, the value of India’s export of cotton textiles totalled $11.1bn

[10] Nigeria does not have any massive private sector operator in the clothing and textile sector. Once upon a time we had Arewa Textiles and Asaba Textiles, so to compete, we need companies that size. Maybe several state governments should float a joint venture company

Ayoakinfe@gmail.com