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Financing Options For Nigeria’s Ailing Textile Industry

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Ronke Ademiluyi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Africa Fashion Week Nigeria & London
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Regardless of the much touted “infrastructure deficit” of the Nigerian market, there have been unprecedented flow of investments from multinational manufacturing corporations into various sectors of the economy in the last decade.

Testaments to this flow are the firm roots established in Nigeria by the likes of SABMiller, Bayer, General Electric, Arla Foods, BASF and Bosch among others.

These multinational corporations are here to do good business, and are affirming the potential of Nigeria as an exceptional, exciting and largely unexploited consumer environment offering a huge opportunity for agile local and global enterprise in all sectors.

Just like the venturing enterprises, I am extremely confident in the opportunity here. Nigeria is a market that manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers cannot ignore. Truly, the market is challenged for now, but this does not detract from its exciting future.

However, I have a concern, a major one. I cannot confidently say that home-grown enterprises are equally positioned to take advantage of opportunities in their home market.

Unlike multinational corporations and/or budding enterprises from Asia and Europe, Nigerian companies are deterred from rising to national acclaim and stupendous Returns on Investments by high costs of funds.

Bringing this home, in the fashion industry in which I do business, some of the hottest trends are coming out of Nigeria.

Yet, the local multi-billion Naira industry is largely serviced through distributive trade dominated by offshore manufacturers.

The local textile and garment manufacturing value change are nearly comatose, transferring benefits accruable to Nigeria such as employment creation, industrialisation, currency stability, and market surpluses to Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Ironically, we once had a thriving textile industry. From the 1950s up to the 1980s, the country had over 140 textile manufacturing industries, accounting for 25% of the nation’s employees in the manufacturing sector.

The industry once employed about a million people, contributing about 15 per cent of the manufacturing sector earnings to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and accounted for over 60 per cent of the textile industry capacity in West Africa.

The industry so thrived that it ranked as the 3rd largest textile producer, only behind Egypt and South Africa.

However, with the government’s apparent focus on the oil sector in the 1980s as a result of the oil boom and the subsequent abandonment of the primary sector, the development of the textile industry gradually became stagnated.

Funding it no longer became a priority for the federal government and state governments which owned textile companies.

The economic recession of the 1990s further compounded the woes of struggling textile manufacturers and many of their secondary sector counterparts. With the banks only willing to lend to the lucrative oil and gas sector, they were unable to procure raw materials and modern machinery.

Year on year, a yawning gap was created with the vacuum being filled through distributive trade that benefits only foreign enterprises and economies.

As such, an industry whichonce boasted of an annual growth rate of 67 per cent in 1991 now has 25 textile mills operating, with all running at less than 40 per cent of installed capacity and employing just over 25,000 people.

On the other hand, the well-funded textile industry in India is the 2nd largest employment generating sector in the country, offering direct employment to over 35 million people.

It contributes 13 per cent to the export earning of the country and around 4 per cent of India’s GDP.

For instance, public-private partnerships drive the textile industry in the United States of America (USA).

This has seen investments in the sector soar to the tune of $1.8 billion in total capital expenditures in 2014 and US exports of textiles increase by 39 per cent between 2009 and 2015, to $17.6 billion.

Taking learnings from India and USA, where textile manufacturing is making huge economic contributions and driving growth and development, Nigeria’s near comatose textile industry can leapfrog from inefficiencies to efficiency just like the now booming telecommunications sector.

Though not elected to be a business entity, government must do more for the fashion value chain than providing the fashion intervention fund being presently disbursed by the Bank of Industry (BOI).

It must breathe life into fund raising alternatives that include a credit guarantee scheme, venture capital funding, second-tier fund raising market on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and cluster financing, among others in order to deepen access to credit across the industry value without the usual stringent collateral requirements set by the commercial banks.

Only by enacting all these would Nigeria benefit from the textile industry’s potential to galvanise job creation, raise household incomes and improve food security due to increased trade.

Unfettered access to funding by players in the fashion industry value chain will ultimately boost Nigeria’s economy.

Ronke Ademiluyi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Africa Fashion Week Nigeria & London, writes from Lagos.


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E-Financial

Ecobank Nigeria to Fully Repay $300m Eurobond Ahead of Schedule

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Ecobank Nigeria has moved to retire the remaining part of its $300 million Eurobond before maturity. The bank has launched a tender offer for holders of its 7.125% senior notes due February 2026.

The bank announced the offer on Friday, 28 November 2025, inviting investors to tender their holdings ahead of schedule. Of the original $300 million issuance, $150 million remains outstanding.

Under the terms, investors whose notes are accepted for repurchase will receive $1,000 for every $1,000 in principal, plus accrued and unpaid interest up to, but not including, the settlement date. The transaction is expected to be completed on or before 31 December 2025.

Ecobank said the early repayment move is part of a broader strategy to optimise its balance sheet and strengthen capital planning flexibility. The lender added that the tender offer gives investors an opportunity to exit the instrument ahead of the original February 2026 maturity.

In a statement, the bank said the initiative underscores its “commitment to transparent engagement with funding partners and investors,” stressing that the offer supports its long-term goal of maintaining a well-structured debt profile.

Participation in the programme is voluntary, and investors will make decisions based on their individual considerations, the bank added.

Ecobank emphasised that the announcement is for information only and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell securities. Eligible noteholders are expected to rely on the formal tender documents when deciding whether to take part.

 


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Reps Give Banks Four-Day Ultimatum on Tax Deductions, Charges

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The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating deductions of taxes and sundry charges from the earnings of civil and public servants has given commercial banks a four-day deadline to submit all requested documents.

Reps Give Banks Four-Day Ultimatum on Tax Deductions, Charges

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The committee, chaired by Hon. Kelechi Nwogwu, issued the ultimatum at the commencement of its investigation, following a motion earlier moved by the House Chief Whip, Hon. Usman Bello Kumo, on alleged deductions from civil servants’ salaries.

Nwogwu insisted that Chief Executive Officers of affected financial institutions must appear in person before the panel, rejecting representatives sent by GT Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank and other banks.

He explained that the panel was mandated to ensure that all deductions of charges by banks on customers’ accounts were fair and properly applied.

The committee disclosed that invitations had also been extended to the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and all commercial banks operating in Nigeria.

“You cannot appear here without an identity. We are here on the mandate of the people who elected us into parliament. We have resolved to meet next week on Wednesday.

“You must submit all requested documents by Monday, May 1,” Nwogwu said.

He warned that any bank that failed to comply with the deadline would face sanctions, adding that the committee would put the CEOs on oath during the next sitting.

The investigation continues next week.


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SEC Urges IST to Freeze all CBEX Bank Accounts in Nigeria

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked the Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST) to order the freezing of all bank accounts belonging to Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) and other defendants held in commercial banks and financial institutions across Nigeria.

The request was made in Suit No. IST/OA/02/2025: Securities and Exchange Commission & Anor v. Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) & 25 Others, the first case before the 6th Tribunal presided over by Hon. Aminu Jinaidu, Chairman of the IST.

SEC also urged the Tribunal to seize houses and other assets allegedly acquired by the defendants using proceeds obtained from the public through the CBEX investment scheme, which it said falsely operated as a digital assets platform and capital-market operator.

The Commission argued that CBEX, which is not registered with SEC, unlawfully promised investors a 100 percent return on investment within 30 days—conduct it said is in violation of Section 3(b) of the Investments and Securities Act, 2025.

SEC further disclosed that the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong had, on April 23, 2024, issued an advisory warning against CBEX, describing it as a suspicious virtual-asset entity. According to the advisory, CBEX adopted a name resembling that of a Chinese property-rights trading organisation to give investors false assurance, despite having no connection with the legitimate entity.

At Tuesday’s sitting, the Tribunal ordered that hearing notices be served on the defendants through national newspapers, as CBEX failed to appear and was not represented in court.

CBEX launched in Nigeria in July 2024, operating through a website and mobile app. It claimed to use advanced artificial intelligence to generate unusually high profits from cryptocurrency trading, promising returns of up to 100 percent within a 40- to 45-day lock-in period. The scheme later collapsed and was exposed as a Ponzi operation that reportedly defrauded investors of more than N1.3 trillion (about $800 million).

Hon. Jinaidu also presided over several other matters on the tribunal’s docket, including Benue Investments Property Co. Ltd & Anor v. Securities and Exchange Commission & 6 Others; Maven Asset Management Ltd v. Securities and Exchange Commission; John Makinde Onade & Anor v. First Registrars & Investors Services Ltd & Anor; and Securities and Exchange Commission & Anor v. Tourist Company of Nigeria PLC & 6 Ors. All the cases were adjourned to January 27, 2026.

 


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