From cotton fields to retail shelves – Why Nigeria must recover its textile legacy

Once the pride of African manufacturing, Nigeria’s textile sector powered hundreds of thousands of jobs, linked cotton farmers to garment factories, and supplied fabrics and clothing locally. In its heyday during the 1970s–1980s, the industry boasted around 180 textile mills – employing well over one million Nigerians directly and indirectly.

Today, however, that landscape lies in ruins. According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria imported ₦726.18 billion worth of textiles in 2024 alone – nearly double from ₦377.1 billion in 2023. Halfway through 2025, textile imports already hit ₦565.96 billion.

These numbers reveal a stark truth: the clothing market remains alive, but the value chain has shifted abroad. Local cotton, labour, and demand remain, but fabric mills, spinning plants, and garment factories have largely shut down, leaving imports to fill the gap.

Why the Leak Matters: Economic, Foreign exchange & Employment Cost

This import dependency is not just a retail inconvenience; it is a structural drain on Nigeria’s economy.

Foreign exchange (FX) outflow: With clothing and textiles imported en masse, FX reserves are constantly pressured. Previous estimates placed annual clothing and textile import bills at around USD 4 billion.

Jobs lost across the value chain: In the 1980s, cotton farming, ginneries, spinning mills, textile weaving, finishing and garmenting provided livelihoods to hundreds of thousands. Today, only a handful of mills remain operational.

Value export instead of domestic value addition: By importing finished clothes, Nigeria effectively exports value — from raw materials through processing to retail margin, rather than capturing that value at home.

If Nigeria redirected even a portion of this import demand back into locally integrated value chains, the impact could be transformative: rural cotton belt farmers would have reliable buyers; mills could revive; thousands of jobs across 10+ states could return; local currency retained; and Nigeria could become a textile exporter in its own right, especially into West Africa and ECOWAS markets.

ONCHEK: Proof that the Chain Can Be Rekindled

Amid the gloom of decline, a new generation of entrepreneurs is quietly proving that vertical integration in textiles remains viable. Enter ONCHEK.

Founded in 2019 and based in Lagos, ONCHEK sources locally-spun cotton yarn, weaves, knits and manufactures garments entirely in Nigeria, from yarn to finished T-shirts. In the last few years, the company has produced over two million garments, using more than 200,000 kg of Nigerian cotton yarn. Their workforce now stands at around 200.

With disciplined operations and lean production planning, ONCHEK claims to produce 50,000–200,000 T-shirts per month under a mass-market model, pricing them “at or below” comparable imports.

“If I make 6,000 shirts a day and you make 500, my unit cost is ten times lower,” ONCHEK’s CEO once told a business-pitch panel, adding that “power is a problem, but only if you’re small, slow or inefficient.”

ONCHEK’s model shows that scale, integration, and operational efficiency can overcome structural headwinds. It proves that the hidden value chain can still operate, with the right business mindset, even under Nigeria’s infrastructural constraints.

What Full Value-Chain Revival Could Achieve

If Nigeria rebuilds even a fraction of its former textile-to-apparel pipeline, the socio-economic and macro-economic impact could be significant:

Employment across 10+ states – cotton belts in the North, weaving and textile hubs in central states, garmenting in urban hubs. This includes farm labour, ginnery workers, spinners, weavers, transport & logistics, finishing, packaging, retail, etc.

Reduced FX demand, improved forex resilience – less import dependency for fabric and garments; greater retention of currency within Nigeria.

Revival of dead textile mills & backwards-integration of cotton value chain – renewed demand for cotton yarn, ginning, spinning; investment in fabrics and dyeing; export potential.

Export competitiveness for sub-Saharan and ECOWAS regional markets – locally produced cotton products priced competitively, especially given that shipping costs from Asia push up final prices anyway.

Value addition retention – instead of exporting raw cotton or importing finished clothes, Nigeria captures value at every stage.

Why It’s Doable – If Policy, Private Sector, & Finance Align

Historically, Nigeria had built this chain, from cotton farming through to garment manufacturing. That legacy shows what’s possible.

Key enablers remain:

• Raw material availability: Cotton farms still exist; Nigeria has agrarian capacity; with renewed demand upstream, farming becomes viable again.
• Large domestic market: With over 200 million people, demand is assured. The volume exists to support scaled manufacturing.
• Entrepreneurial willingness: Businesses like ONCHEK show that with discipline and operational excellence, manufacturing can survive.
• Export potential: Regional trade frameworks (ECOWAS) provide market access beyond Nigeria.

But for full realisation, several structural reforms are essential:

1. Policy backing – consistent textile and apparel policy, protective tariffs on finished imports, support for local cotton value chain, tax and regulatory incentives for backwards-integrated firms.
2. Access to affordable finance & capital – to upgrade spinning, weaving, finishing machinery, and to invest in power infrastructure or captive energy solutions.
3. Infrastructure & energy stability – reliable power, transport linkages linking cotton belts to textile clusters to urban markets.
4. Aggregate demand stimulation – public procurement policies, agency-level quotas for locally made apparel, incentives for large-scale retail chains to source locally.

The Trillion-Naira Question of the Decade

Nigeria is at a crossroads. Continue as now, importing clothing and exporting value. Or, rebuild the full value chain, retain value, create jobs, stabilise currency outflows, and transform cotton fields into factories, livelihoods, and export-grade garments.

ONCHEK proves the blueprint works. What remains is execution, at scale.

The question the next administration must answer is not whether Nigeria can revive textiles, but whether Nigeria will.

Because every T-shirt imported is a lost job, a lost naira, a lost opportunity. And every locally made shirt is a vote for self-reliance, economic dignity, and industrial rebirth.