The
New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) is partnering Sur International Textile
(SIT), a Turkish firm, to invest $15 million to reactivate the collapsed Kaduna
Textile Company.NNDC Group Managing Director Dr Ahmed Musa made this known to
reporters, shortly after a meeting with the Turkish business delegation at the
NNDC’s head office in Kaduna.Musa said the NNDC and SIT would invest the amount
to revitalise the textile company. According to the proposal, the Turkish firm
will provide 35 per cent of the amount, the Federal Government, 45 per cent,
and KTL will give 20 per cent.
Musa said in the short term, the KTL would produce uniforms for the Nigerian
Armed Forces, the Police and other paramilitary agencies in the country, and
across West African.He said revamping the KTL would boost Kaduna State economy
and create employment for the unemployed within and outside the state.We held a
private meeting with a team of delegation from Turkey. They want to invest in
Kaduna Textile and turn it around. In summary, they want to start producing
military and paramilitary uniforms for members of the Nigerian Armed Forces,”
Musa said.
According to him, the project is a laudable one that will boost the state
economy and increase its revenue drive while creating massive employment. “We
have been able to attract investors into the state,” he added.The NNDC’s
Executive Director, Investments, Alhaji Abdullahi Ali-Gombe, said the agreement
would revamp the textile firm owned by the 19 northern states.Besides boosting
the economy, when operational, the firm will go into the production of military
and paramilitary garments.Ali-Gombe,
who is also the Chairman, Restructuring Committee of the KTL, said: “We cannot
say tentatively when this will take off. We are hoping very soon.”
The Kaduna Textile Limited, established in 1957, operated a large integrated
textile mill, producing various kinds of garments.The company started operation
in November 1957, spinning the country’s cotton. In 1961, it began the
production of finished garments.The firm was financed by the Northern Nigeria
Regional Marketing Board and the region’s development corporation and was
managed by an expatriate firm, David Whitehead & Sons. It was closed down
in 2000 following various financial crises and inadequate power supply.
Source: Daily Post, Nigeria Friday, 18 August 2017