Nigeria’s textile industry, once the pride of West Africa, continues to grapple with massive import dependency as textile imports surged by 297.8% in just five years, hitting ₦726.18 billion in 2024 compared to ₦182.53 billion in 2020, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS breakdown shows a consistent year-on-year rise: ₦278.8 billion in 2021, ₦365.5 billion in 2022, and ₦377.1 billion in 2023, before peaking in 2024. Analysts say this trend underscores Nigeria’s growing reliance on imported fabrics despite having abundant cotton resources and a large labour force capable of powering a competitive local textile industry.
Industrial investment expert and CEO of Arise Integrated Industrial Platform (ARISE IIP), Gagan Gupta, expressed concern over the missed opportunities in Nigeria’s textile sector. Speaking at a recent conference themed “The Journey to Making Africa a Global Manufacturing Hub,” Gupta described Nigeria as a sleeping giant in the $10.3 billion global apparel export market.
“Nigeria has the raw materials, a large labour force, and a growing consumer market. But these advantages remain dormant due to inadequate infrastructure, poor policy framework, and high production costs,” Gupta said.
He stressed that while Nigeria produces cotton locally, the absence of a robust value chain forces manufacturers to rely on imported machinery and inputs, further increasing production costs due to foreign exchange volatility.
Gupta highlighted several key obstacles stifling local textile production:
Inadequate access to funding and working capital for manufacturers.
High cost of foreign exchange, making machinery imports expensive.
Poor infrastructure, including inconsistent power supply and weak transport networks.
Policy inconsistencies, which discourage long-term investments.
These challenges have kept local textile factories underperforming, forcing retailers to depend heavily on imported fabrics to meet rising consumer demand.
Gupta argued that reviving Nigeria’s textile industry requires bold reforms, targeted infrastructure investment, and coordinated policy support from both government and the private sector.
“Without a deliberate push to modernise production facilities, improve transport networks, and facilitate access to finance, Nigeria will continue to import what it could be exporting,” he warned.
He further recommended that Nigeria adopt a long-term reform agenda focused on value addition, integration into regional and global value chains, and strong investor incentives.
Industry experts believe Nigeria can reclaim its status as a textile powerhouse if it invests in modern textile parks, stable energy supply, and local cotton processing plants.
Some stakeholders have also called on the Federal Government to revive its earlier Cotton, Textile, and Garment (CTG) policy and strengthen partnerships with private investors to develop industrial clusters across the country.
For now, the surge in textile imports raises concerns about job losses, capital flight, and weakening of local industries—issues that could worsen unless urgent reforms are undertaken.