Vice President Kashim Shettima on Thursday led a high-level delegation of six Governors to the Republic of Benin on Thursday to study the country’s Glo‑Djigbé Industrial Zone.
Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications in a statement said Shettima’s team includes senior federal officials on a mission to glean lessons for reviving Nigeria’s beleaguered textile sector.
The delegation will visit the 1,640‑hectare GDIZ near Cotonou and meet Beninese officials, investors and private operators responsible for the zone’s development and management.
The GDIZ is built around an integrated production chain—cotton spinning, weaving, fabric processing and garment manufacturing—moving raw agricultural inputs toward finished exports, Nkwocha said.
The Nigerian contingent includes Imo Governor Hope Uzodimma, Zamfara’s Dauda Lawal, Plateau’s Caleb Mutfwang, Kwara’s AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Katsina’s Dikko Radda and Jigawa’s Umar Namadi.
“The visit is aimed at strengthening the implementation of Nigeria’s Special Agro‑Industrial Processing Zones Programme and examining how the GDIZ model can be adapted to Nigeria’s agro‑industrial zones,” Nkwocha said.
He noted that the delegation will consider garment‑training facilities and processing infrastructure close to agricultural production communities.
According to the statement, the African Development Bank is backing plans for a garment‑training centre within the SAPZ programme in Ogun State.
The trip comes as the federal government presses to rebuild an industry hit by factory closures, weak local processing and heavy competition from imports.
Nkwocha in the statement put the value of Nigeria’s textile, apparel and footwear sector at about ₦8.15 trillion in 2024, with nominal output of roughly ₦2.45 trillion in the first quarter of 2025.
Nkwocha said the delegation will probe ways to connect cotton farmers, ginneries, spinning mills, textile producers, fashion houses and export markets—a vertically integrated value chain that, if developed, could cut import dependence, conserve foreign exchange and generate employment across farming, manufacturing, logistics, design and retail.
Particular focus will be given to GDIZ’s strategies for mobilizing investment, building industrial infrastructure, developing skills and orienting production toward exports—areas where Nigeria’s textile industry has struggled, the statement said.
The delegation will also explore technology transfer, industrial training, modern machinery, reliable energy solutions, common processing facilities and deeper public‑private partnerships.
The presidential spokesman described the engagement as consistent with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, citing objectives such as industrial revival, economic diversification, agricultural transformation, import substitution, job creation and the expansion of non‑oil exports.
