Textile manufacturers utilise just 53% capacity as Nigeria’s production crisis deepens

Nigeria’s textile, apparel and footwear manufacturers operated at just 53.05 percent of installed capacity in 2025, leaving nearly half of their productive potential idle and highlighting the deepening structural crisis in one of the country’s once-thriving industrial sectors.

BusinessDay analysis of the First Quarterly Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN/NBS bulletin shows that the sector’s capacity utilisation improved marginally from 50.72 percent in 2024 to 53.05 percent in 2025.

However, the industry remained below 55 percent capacity throughout the year, underscoring the difficulty manufacturers face in restoring production to sustainable levels.

Capacity utilisation stood at 52.07 percent in the first quarter of 2025, rose to 54.99 percent in the second quarter, fell to 52.01 percent in the third quarter and recovered slightly to 53.12 percent in the fourth quarter.

The figures mean textile manufacturers left about 47 percent of their installed production capacity unused last year, despite renewed government efforts to rebuild the sector and growing calls for greater protection against imported textiles.

The capacity crisis comes as the Senate pushes for a total ban on textile imports, arguing that restricting foreign products would create room for domestic manufacturers to expand production, create jobs, stimulate cotton farming and reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imports.

But experts warn that an import ban without first rebuilding domestic production could worsen the crisis by creating shortages, raising prices and…