Textile Industry’s ‘Comeback’: Why cotton sector revival failed – Achimugu, Cotton association’s president

In this interview, Mr Anibe Achimugu, the national president of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) and Managing Director of Arewa Cotton and Allied Products, explained some of the issues that have made the revival of cotton sector in Nigeria difficult.   As an association, what are some of the interventions you received to […]

In this interview, Mr Anibe Achimugu, the national president of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) and Managing Director of Arewa Cotton and Allied Products, explained some of the issues that have made the revival of cotton sector in Nigeria difficult.

 

As an association, what are some of the interventions you received to enable you boost cotton production in the country?

Over the years, and way before my time in the NACOTAN, the association received interventions through the Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. But the most impactful intervention came through the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2019 and 2020.  This intervention provided significant support to cotton farmers under our association to cultivate one hectare, providing the right quality and quantity inputs and services to farmers. For the first time in a very long time, farmers got the recommended inputs and services needed to successfully cultivate one hectare, assured 100 per cent off-take of their produced seed cotton and a minimum guaranteed price. Added to these, farmers enjoyed extension services support.

 

Have some of these interventions yielded the desired results?

I will definitely say yes, especially under the Anchor Borrowers Programme, as production jumped from 80,000mt in 2018/2019 to 120,000mt plus in 2019/2020 and 136,000mt in 2020/2021 cropping seasons. Aside from cotton production itself, the ABP intervention directly benefitted farmers who returned to cotton production, moving from 67,000 plus in 2018 to 90,786 in 2019 and 143,221 in 2020. In the same breath, ginning companies increased from 7 to 26 operational ginneries 

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Many people believe that you cannot revive textile industries without first reviving cotton production. Which one do you think should come first?

I absolutely agree with that school of thought, simply because you cannot sustainably revive the textile industries by importing the bedrock raw material, especially when you have the internal capacity to produce more than enough quantities and the different quality types the textile industries require for their various product offerings. To be frank, I do not subscribe to the ‘which one comes first’ debate as I believe the value chain approach is best for the revival of the cotton, textile and garment (CTG) sector of Nigeria.

There must be synergies created, as seed cotton produced without processing to cotton lint, cotton lint produced without conversion to yarn, yarn produced without processing to grey cloth etc, do not make sense and defeat the value addition mindset we all need to embrace in all sectors, not just that of the CTG, to positively impact on our socioeconomic wellbeing.

It is important that we do not leave any CTG subsector behind as the basic infrastructures to hit the ground running exist. Let’s not forget that as much as possible, we should avoid importing what we can produce locally so that we don’t create jobs for other countries as we must always think ‘Nigeria First.’ What a visionary policy. 

 

In 2009, the federal government created a N100 billion intervention fund to revive the textile industries, yet the sector failed to witness any significant revival. What are the major issues?

I will always commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for first identifying the strategic importance of the CTG sector and backing their recognition of it with interventions such as the N100 billion fund that was dedicatedly managed by the Bank of Industry (BOI) for the purpose of reviving the CTG sector. There is no doubt that funding is required, but the right fitting policies must be developed and implemented to support the funds. There was lack of synergy, as well as the adoption of a value chain approach. 

 

As a major player, what are the major killer issues that hinder transformation of the industry?

For me, the number one killer issue is lack of synergy amongst the relevant stakeholders, both within public and private spaces, occasioned by the absence of a central coordinating body. Additionally, you have direct killer issues that affect cotton production, such as poor quality planting seeds, insecurity, insufficient power supply to run the ginneries and textile factories, smuggling of textile products, inconsistent policies or sustainable implementation of policies, such the Executive Order 003, lack of investments for modernisation, capacity building. Deliberate efforts to protect the local industries from unfair foreign competition are not in place, low cost sustainable financing. There are other killer issues, and they must be addressed frontally.

 

In practical terms, what do you think is the way forward? Do you see any light at the end of the tunnel?

In literal and practical terms, the way forward is the inauguration of the recently approved Cotton, Textile and Garment Development Board (CTGDB) by the National Economic Council (NEC) in its 149th meeting held on Thursday, April 24, 2025. The salient prayer out of six prayers that were wholly approved by NEC is that the board be private sector (industry players) driven. This will be the game changer that brightens the light at the end of the tunnel that I see. For years, every intervention has been government-led, so let us try the private sector-led way. In CTG developed countries, there are cotton boards, councils or even ministries that coordinate their sectors; hence their success stories, case in point being Bangladesh that achieves over $40 billion annually.

 

What should be the major areas of focus?

The major area of focus should be the entire value chain, with the aim of meeting or surpassing our national demand for textile products, then taking advantage of AfCFTA to become the African textile hub, as well as taking first mover advantage in textile recycling.

All said and done, seed multiplication, processing and packaging, sustainable cotton production through support to cotton farmers, full implementation of Executive Order 003, concessionary duties and tariff regimes, low cost financing windows, effective anti-smuggling initiatives are some of the focus areas that will support revival efforts.

These may seem too much, but if you consider the attendant benefits of a revived CTG sector in terms of employment generation, wealth creation, industrialisation, food security and its potentially massive contributions to our country’s socioeconomic wellbeing, it is not asking too much. Let’s not forget that investments in the sector so far are well above the N1 trillion mark.