FG Set to Revitalise Textile Industries

admin · FG Set to Revitalise Textile Industries

FG Set to Revitalise Textile Industries

This Day
9 Sept. 2007

Minister of Labour, Dr Hassan Lawal, has said the Federal Government has embarked on measures to resuscitate textile industries. He made the announcement in Jos, at the 19th Annual Education Conference of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers (NUTGTWN).

Lawal said in May, the Federal Government, in conjunction with some banks, raised N70 billion to fund the resuscitation of textile industries. He noted that some textile industries in Kano, Lagos, Aba, and Onitsha have already benefited from the fund, made available to them at concessionary interest rates.

The minister said the reform agenda of the present administration was aimed at improving socio-economic infrastructure in the country. He said the agricultural sector, which was central to the development of textile industry, was government's priority area.

"The wealth creation agenda of the present administration is focusing on non-oil exports, especially agricultural products, which assist in the revitalisation of textile industries,"he added. Lawal urged textile workers to be productivity-conscious, "since the progress of their companies will determine their ability to retain their services".

Speaking also, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State said his government supported any initiatives aimed at promoting the growth of textile and tailoring industries. "The state government has shown commitment by encouraging the people, especially women to venture into tie and die production and tailoring services. The aim is to develop skills and reduce poverty among the people," he said.

Jang, who was represented by his Deputy, Mrs Pauline Tallen, said government would support the inclusion of textile and tailoring studies in the curriculum of schools. He said this would go a long way in enhancing professionalism in the industry.

The President of NUTGTWN, Mr Reginald Agulanna, advised Jang to resuscitate all ailing industries in the state so as to create jobs. He noted that the performance of textile industries had declined in spite of the initiatives for their revival by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Agulanna observed that the main problems facing the industry were policy inconsistencies, trade liberalisation, interest rates and high cost of production.

Copyright © 2007 This Day

admin · UBA to Raise N70bn for Textile Revival

UBA to Raise N70bn for Textile Revival

Daily Trust
Anas A. Galadima
10 Sept. 2007

United Bank for Africa agreed to raise the N70billion required by the federal government to revive the nation's ailing textile industry, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Alhaji Baba Yusuf Ahmed said at the weekend. He said the bank will provide the funds to the government for on-ward lending to manufacturers at single digit interest rate.

Speaking to Daily Trust in an exclusive interview, he said contrary to media reports that the N70 billion was missing, the government did not set aside any money for that purpose. Rather, it said it was going to raise the funds by issuing Eurobonds through international financial institutions. But because the government could not meet one of the conditions given by the international lenders, the deal could not go through.

"The true position is that, as it is, there is no such money not to talk of it being missing. The federal government did not keep aside any money for the textile revival fund. What the government did was to ensure that we raise the fund through the issuance of Eurobond to the tune of N70 billion which will be used for the revival of the industry. That we are doing," he said.

"We have been able to negotiate with the banks that will raise the funds on behalf of the government. But at the point we were to issue the guarantee (because it was to be factored by a government guarantee), then there was a change of government. And the new set of ministers came and virtually 50 percent of the members of the presidential committee on textile revival fund are new - the minister of finance, minister of commerce and industry, minister of agriculture and some deputy governors. They are all new so they have to be carried along before we move forward."

He said: "Initially the directive was that the funds are to be raised offshore through Eurobonds and we have been discussing with Merrill Lynch of London and Lazard Freres so that they can help us source for the N70 billion Eurobond. So the condition given to us was that we should give them an explicit guarantee and one of the reasons we can not give them an explicit guarantee is because of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) condition. So since we can not give the explicit guarantee for now, we have opted for a local bank - that is UBA," he said.

Copyright © 2007 Daily Trust