Cotton/Textile industry: Govt targets 1.4m jobs

Vice President Kashim Shettima, during a meeting with the ICAC delegation, led by its Executive Director, Mr Eric Trachtenberg, at the State House, Abuja,

The Federal Government, in collaboration with the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), has launched a bid to resuscitate Nigeria’s cotton industry, aiming to create over 1.4 million jobs annually.

This initiative, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s industrialization drive, focuses on developing key components of the cotton value chain, including farming, weaving, ginning, and linking of cotton.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, during a meeting with the ICAC delegation, led by its Executive Director, Mr Eric Trachtenberg, at the State House, Abuja, urged stakeholders to create a roadmap for the sector’s revitalization, emphasizing the need for action.

According to a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Information, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima said “it is time to work more and talk less”.

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The Vice President assured that the Tinubu administration will make conscious efforts to ensure the country harnesses opportunities in the cotton value chain, including ensuring that Nigeria regains its ICAC membership.

He thanked the delegation for the visit, just as he acknowledged ICAC’s commitment to the development of the sector in Africa, noting that “your diverse backgrounds in ICAC gives a nuance understanding of the complexities and opportunities in the cotton value chain.

Earlier in his remarks, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said his state was well positioned to harness opportunities in the cotton value chain, given that it hosts the factories, the market and is a critical component of the business ecosystem for the cotton sub-sector.

He said Lagos, as an integral part of the cotton value chain in Nigeria, will support every effort by stakeholders to revamp the sector to enable the state sustain its status as the largest fashion hub in the continent.

The governor expressed excitement at the possibility and opportunity for the resuscitation of the cotton and textile sector with a particular focus on job creation and economic transformation.

Governor Sanwo-Olu pledged the state’s readiness to offtake cotton produced in other parts of the country for companies based within the area.

Also speaking, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma said the meeting with the delegation from the ICAC is the beginning of Nigeria’s quest to revamp the textile industry as part of the broad objective for industrializing the economy.

He said Imo and the Southeastern region will key into the renewed effort to revamp the cotton/textile sector with the bid to create jobs for the people and for the overall industrialization drive of the country.

According to him, “the opportunity created by the meeting is a new beginning in our quest for industrial recovery and creation of jobs for our teeming youths as well as an opportunity for a new partnership.”

In his remarks, Mr Trechtenberg said he was pleased with the level of interest and commitment shown by the leadership of the country and other stakeholders in reviving the industry in Nigeria.

Citing examples in China, India, Pakistan and other parts of the world, the ICAC Executive Director said the potentials in the cotton value chain was huge and has proven to be transformative.

He noted that cotton and textile offer competitive advantage, economic transformation and is a very competitive product that can be sold, both domestically and internationally, with probability to generate high quality jobs for now and in the future.

He said the ICAC would support Nigeria’s cotton value chain revamp by offering expert advice in improving productivity and boosting the value chain and investment facilitation.

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Also present at the meeting were the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji; the Director General, Budget Office, Dr Tanimu Yakubu; Director General, Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, and Director General, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Dr Jummai Tutuwa.

Other members of the ICAC delegation included the Director of Textiles, Mr Usman Kanwar; Chief Scientist, Dr Keshav Kranthi; President of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria, Mr Anibe Achimugu; Vice President, Cotton Ginners Association, Abdulkarim Lawal Kaita, and representatives of major textile and cotton producers in the country, among others.