Ogun State Government and the Arise Integrated Industrial Platform (IIP), an India-based multinational company, have constituted a project implementation team for the take-off of the biggest garment production company in the country.
The team is expected to identify what needs to be done and when, as well as to jointly establish a timeline for each task in preparation for the groundbreaking ceremony of the project in September this year.
Speaking when he received a delegation from the company led by its President, Mr. Gagan Gupta, including the representative of AFRIXEM Bank in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, noted with delight the enormous contribution the project would have on the economy of the state and the nation at large.
According to him, with the capacity to produce 100 tons per hour, 1,000 tons per day, 40,000 tons per month, and about 350,000 tons per year, the factory would turn out about 4.4 million garments every day and employ between 120,000 to 150,000 direct and indirect laborers.
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The governor said: “What we are here for today is to put together a project implementation team to identify what needs to be done and when, to jointly establish timelines for each of the tasks so that we can prepare for the groundbreaking of the project in September.
“What I find most exciting is how this project will resuscitate cotton farming and cotton growing in Nigeria and the ripple effects on the economy.
“Ogun State fortunately grows the highest quality cotton in Nigeria. We dedicated 10 hectares of land in the first instance for cotton growing. We have a very active grower association in our state.
“I am hoping that you find the right cotton inputs that you will make available to these farmers, and they will become the outgrowers. That way, you will take over the ownership of the entire process, and Offtake agreements would have been signed with them so that they know what is expected at harvest”, Abiodun added.
He lamented that Nigeria, which was a leading garment-producing nation in the past, had lost its position to its neighbours, maintaining that with the project, the nation would regain its pride of place as a top producer of textiles on the continent.
The governor explained that the $2 billion company to be sited at the Special Agro Processing Zone at the airport city had the potential of turning the state into a garment hub not only in the country but Africa as a whole.
He expatiated: “I must also, in particular, appreciate our President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for providing the enabling environment for the likes of Gagan Gupta to consider coming to invest in this sector and be so bullish as to have decided to commit this amount of funding alongside the bankers to this sector. We are looking at about $2 billion worth of investment.”
Speaking during the parley, the President of the Group, Gagan Gupta, said his company would establish a world-class textile industry and produce for Nigeria and the rest of the world.
He said Nigeria had the potential to be Africa’s textile hub, noting that despite a decline in local production of cotton, the establishment of the industry will encourage cotton farmers, thereby boosting its position in the world.
In his remarks, AIIP Chief Executive Officer of Textiles, Arvind Mathor, said: “We are here to discuss the setting up of our industrial park. Basically, we think there is a huge potential for domestic consumption as well as future exporting in the region and ECOWAS.
“The environment is excellent; the support we’ve received, the promises made, and our experience from the recent past are all very positive, so we are very happy about it”, Mathor added.
Also, Chief Executive Officer of ATMS, Raja Rajaburu, said their visit to the state was to plan how the company would invest in the production of garments in the state, and create over 120,000 direct jobs, and other indirect jobs.
He said: “Because of the infrastructure and the facilitation created by the Governor’s Office, we are really enthusiastic about putting the project in Ogun State.”
Photo Caption
L-R: Director/Head of Trade Finance, Afreximbank, Uju Okafor; President, Arise Industrial Integrated Platform (AIIP), Gagan Gupta; Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun; General Manager, Strategy, AIIP, Deshina Jain; Country Head and Vice President, AIIP, Suren Abeywichrema, during a meeting on the proposed textile factory in Ogun State held on Friday at the Governor’s office , Abeokuta
