China’s involvement in the trans-Saharan textile trade and industry in Nigeria: the case of Kano

Abstract

SUMMARY This Briefing analyses the large volume and value of smuggled Chinese textile products through the Sahara into the Kano market from 2000 to 2015. The evidence indicates that China’s involvement has displaced local manufacturers in the historic textile city of Kano.

Why Nigerian agbada fabric is (often) imported, while Indian sari fabric is local: a comparative history of textile manufacturing

“…The latter literature has identified an array of reasons explaining the decline of a once-flourishing Nigerian textile industry. Some explanations, such as poor electricity supply driving up production costs, are not explored further here (Muhammad et al 2018;Maiwada and Renne 2013;Banjoko, Iwuji and Bagshaw 2012;Aminu 2016). This article focuses instead on factors that can be more fully fleshed out through qualitative comparison.…”

“…The textile sector represented the largest employment sector after agriculture in India (Kar 2015) and the largest formal sector employer after government in Nigeria. In 1984, when the Nigerian textile industry was at its peak, there were 175 textile factories, and the sector accounted for 22 per cent of employment and 15 per cent of manufacturing value (Muhammad et al 2018;Onyeiwu 1997).…”