No fewer than two million jobs are to be created in the textile industry with the expected injection of massive cash to revive the comatose sector.
Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, said on Wednesday that the apex bank is looking at injecting N100 billion as its intervention in the Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) value chain.
The bankers’ bank has already disbursed about N50 billion to the cotton and ginning components.
Also on Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari said he had directed the CBN to pump money into the sector for the local production of textiles and garments
The President said the cotton, textile and garment sector had the capacity to transform Nigeria’s economy and refine the sector to bring about an industry capable of creating more than two million jobs.
The President delivered his message at the 31st National Education Conference of the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) in Abuja.
Emefiele spoke after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), Ginning Companies and Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association and Armed Forces of Nigeria, Nigeria Police, Paramilitary Institutions & National Youth Service Corps also in Abuja.
The CBN governor said the CBN’s intention was to ensure that local players took control of the cotton, textile and garment industry and get it revived to facilitate its job creation capacity.
Emefiele said already, “approval to a tune of N19.18billion has been granted to finance nine ginneries with a view to retooling their processing plants, while providing them with improved access to finance at single digit interest rate.”
The same support he said will be extended to the textile and garment firms.
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