TheCable

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says a total of N44 billion has been disbursed to 200,000 cotton farmers since 2019 — as a way of revamping the industry.

The apex bank announced this during a meeting with stakeholders in the cotton, garment and textile (CTG) industry on how to revamp the industry towards economic diversification and sustainable growth.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the CBN, in a speech delivered on his behalf by Lamtek Adamu, deputy governor in charge of corporate services, Emefiele said that the CBN is committed to offering the required support to return the textile and garment industry to its old glory.

”The economic significance of the textile and garment industry in Nigeria cannot be over emphasised. In the past we used to have a vibrant textile industry employing hundreds of thousands of people, but now it is a shadow of itself,” he said.

“CBN is committed to revamping the sector. Our efforts have started yielding results but we need to grow the sector faster.”

According to him, the federal government had added all forms of textile materials to the list of imports ineligible for forex from official sources as a way of encouraging local production.

Yila Yusuf, CBN’s director of development financing, said the meeting was necessitated by the need to move the CTG industry forward.

In a speech delivered on his behalf by Chika Nwaja from the department, Yusuf said the apex bank has already committed N44 billion to revamping the sector, financing about 200,000 cotton farmers since 2019.

“By the 2021 wet season, we need to do more for the sector. We intend to grow its capacity by 70 per cent,” he said.

Anibe Achibogu, president of national cotton association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), commended the CBN for its intervention on the sector.

He said that the increased number of cotton cultivated; about 50,000 metric tonnes in 2018 to 120,000 metric tonnes in 2019, after CBN’s intervention, was an indication of success.