The Nigerian government has partnered with the Katsina state government to establish an Integrated Textile and Garment Park aimed at revitalizing the textile industry and boosting production of cotton in the country, according to the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).
The park is expected to be completed within 24 months. Minister of State of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Marriam Yalwaji Katagum, disclosed this when she led other management staff of the ministry on an advocacy visit to state deputy governor Alhaji Mannir Yakubu on Saturday, NIPC said.
The minister pointed out that the project would be a public-private partnership, adding that the federal government is committed to creating an enabling environment to attract more investment opportunities in the country. The Funtua Integrated Textile and Garment Park is one of the six priority projects under the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan of the federal government, she said.
“For this reason, the state government has made available quite the largest land and we had seen the facilities that are available on the land–power line, rail lines and the network of roads,” Katagum said. “We have also developed our work plan.”
The permanent secretary of the ministry, Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo, said the industrial park, when established, would aggregate cotton from more than 800,000 farmers from northern Nigeria. Gwarzo noted that the country has spent more than $6 billion on imported textiles and garments “with almost no share in the highly lucrative export within global textile and garment markets.”
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The U.S. imported virtually no textiles and apparel in 2019 from Nigeria, which is eligible for trade benefits under the African Growth & Opportunity Act, according to the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel.
Working toward being able to meet domestic needs, the federal government has inaugurated six special economic zones, with Lekki, Eyimba and Funtua as pilot sites to promote local production, Gwarzo said.
“These special economic zones have been identified as the key tools for accelerating and implementing the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan in order to create jobs of great skills, promote exports and investment, as well as to diversify economy to boost sustainable and exclusive growth,” Gwarzo said. “The government is therefore desirous of a strong public-private partnership arrangement in order to effectively execute the Funtua project. Our focus is to develop a world-class park within a period of 18 to 24 months.”
Deputy Governor Alhaji Yakubu said the state government has approved 180 hectares of land for the initial project, promising to accord the federal government the needed support to execute the initiative.