Nigeria’s textile industry is set to receive a significant boost with the new Adire Textile Factory in Ile-Ife, Osun State. The factory’s launch will occur during the annual Aje festival on February 22 to commemorate the grand celebration. In addition to the textile factory, Africa Fashion Week London and Nigeria to build a new Cultural Centre also in Ile-Ife to strengthen the local economy. The new cultural center is described as a massive capital project that will require national and international funding and will be laid on 30,000sqms of land in Ile-Ife.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Nigeria was home to Africa’s largest textile industry, with more than 180 textile mills employing over 450,000 people. The cotton, textile, and garment (CTG) subsector of the economy was then the largest employer after the public sector, comprising over 25 percent of the manufacturing workforce. The production of cotton supported this industry by some 600,000 local farmers across the country. Today, the CTG industry is living in the shadow of its former self as virtually all the companies have shut down, terminating thousands of jobs and requiring Nigeria to annually import some $4 billion worth of ready-made clothing and textiles.
Princess Ronke Ademiluyi, Founder of Africa Fashion Week London and Nigeria, said that the factory is structured to be the largest in Africa and will provide opportunities for cultural exchange between African and international students of design to have a more in-depth knowledge of Adire fabric.
Ronke further said, “It will provide an ecosystem for development, teaching and learning, guided by tradition, innovation, and sustainability and will connect the stories of indigenous arts to the heritage of Africa. Other facilities within the complex will include a gallery for visiting exhibitions, a textile museum, a digital library, heritage artisan village (which will include the bronze casting, terracotta pottery, and wood carving); an aso-oke cloth weaving pavilion, Yoruba culture academy, a design innovation lab, and timeshare residential lodges. The Hub will generate employment and become an example of the Non-Oil Export Initiative promoted by the Nigerian government. It will increase the artisans’ capacity working in Ile-Ife and educate on the importance of sustainability, ethical and environmental practices.”
