After two years of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) blocking traders from using forex to import textiles, Nigeria’s cotton market has witnessed a marginal rebound. Data from USDA analyzed by Premium Times shows, cotton production and consumption rose 7.5 per cent in volume in 2020 after a decline in 2019. In 2019, Nigeria’s cotton production stood at 920,000 metric tonne while consumption stood at 805,000 metric tonne. In 2020, a year after, this surged to 1.6 million metric tonne and 989,000 metric tonne.
As per Anibe Achimugu, President, National Cotton Farmers Association of Nigeria, forex restriction on textile imports was a game-changer for the industry. The ban increased demand for Nigeria’s cotton, which meant farmers now have a market for their produce.
Cotton is produced mostly in Zamfara, Katsina, Borno, Kano, Adamawa, and Bauchi States. The Central Bank also provided soft loans to cotton farmers. This year alone, almost 130,000 cotton farmers benefited from the bank’s anchor borrowers program.
