Senate textile import ban could cost 10 million jobs, CPPE warns
By Aboki Forex —
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has warned that the Senate's push to ban textile fabric imports may destroy jobs and hurt Nigeria's N10 trillion fashion industry.
In a statement signed by its CEO, Muda Yusuf, the CPPE said an outright ban would risk the livelihoods of about 10 million Nigerians. The group argued that while reviving local textile production is important, a ban would cause serious economic damage.
CPPE said the fashion, garment-making and tailoring sector is much larger than the textile manufacturing segment. It is worth an estimated N10 trillion and supports millions of jobs directly and indirectly.
Restricting imports would drive up production costs, limit consumer choices, and put pressure on thousands of small businesses in fashion and garment-making, the group added.
The furniture and interior design sector, valued at nearly N7 trillion, would also suffer. Higher fabric costs would hurt competitiveness and raise operating expenses for businesses.
CPPE urged the government to focus on competitiveness reforms instead. It called for better cotton production, cheaper financing, and improved infrastructure to revive the local textile sector.