Nigeria News: China, Nigeria partners in $2bn Cotton deal| Jeremy Spell Blog

Nigeria and a Chinese firm have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on
first-ever cotton value chain industry, worth
two billion US dollars.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and
Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah,
unveiled the deal in Abuja where he said
the agreement was signed with Shandong
Ruyi International Fashion Industry.
The minister explained that the agreement
would involve cotton growing to ginning,
spinning, textile manufacture and garment
in Katsina, Kano, Abia and Lagos States.
“Their investments will comprise
aggregation and off take of cotton from
farmers for ginning, spinning and weaving
and manufacturing at least 300 million
metres of African print, which will meet 20
per cent of West Africa’s demand.
“Others are producing cotton and denim
garments for export and local consumption
by Ruyi Group in Abia, Lagos and Kano
states,” Enelamah said.
He added that in China, President Xi Jinping
promised to open China’s market for
agricultural products from Nigeria, based
on trade negotiating engagements by
Nigeria’s Trade Negotiators.
Enelamah said for industrialisation, the
government was aggressively implementing
the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP)
by establishing the Nigeria Industrial Policy
and Competitiveness Advisory Council.
He said the focus would be on five high
priority areas: policy and regulation, trade
and markets, critical infrastructure , skills ,
capacity building and lastly financing.
Enelamah said that the government had
begun the establishment and upgrading of
some existing industrial parks to world-
class special economic zones (SEZs), across
the six geo-political zones in the country.
According to him, for the Agreement
Establishing the African Continental Free
Trade Area (AfCFTA), there is a serious
ongoing technical work to strengthen
Nigeria’s Trade Policy Infrastructure.