Nigeria is planning textile and garment clusters, which would generate jobs and revive the textile industry in the country. Most of the sophisticated equipment to start the production hubs is being put together in China and Italy.

These will showcase the country’s professionalism in tailoring. Nigeria doesn’t have any tailoring that is mass produced. In Nigeria, textile manufacturing is a key local industry, supported by a chain of suppliers such as cotton growers and natural dye makers. However, traditional methods of dyeing fabrics are threatened by cheap imports from abroad.

Nigerians have a love of naturally dyed fabrics with many prints based on traditional motifs. In northern regions, it is common for cloth to be a single color, such as indigo. Dyers use dye-pits (two or three meters deep). The cloth is left in these for a day or two, before being rinsed and left to dry. Sometimes, indigo cloth is beaten and given an extra coating of indigo powder to give a deeper shade and a glossy shine or sheen. Nigeria's textile industry used to be the third largest in Africa.

Now the country spends about 100 billion naira annually on importing clothing materials. If half of this could be made locally, the drain of foreign exchange could be stopped. Jobs could be created. Buying home made goods can stimulate the domestic economy.