The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria stated that the increased local production of polypropylene in Nigeria will strengthen the country’s textile industry.
In a recent interview, the Director General of MAN, Segun Kadir-Ajayi, noted that Dangote Refinery’s addition of 900,000 tons of polypropylene will save Nigeria $267 million in import costs.
This development is expected to improve Nigeria’s competitiveness in the textile sector.
“We believe that Dangote polypropylene coming into the market will ensure that we have a lowering of prices as it will boost local production. It has been demonstrated in the petroleum sector,” he said.
“We should also see this as creating competition in the domestic environment, which should see to the lowering of the cost in that sector,” he explained.
“We are seeing this as an addition to building a competitive textile industry, and of course by extension the garment industry in Nigeria,” he said.
According to Kadir-Ajayi, Nigeria currently imports 90% of its polypropylene requirements and ranks 28th among the top importers of the commodity.
He estimated the country’s annual demand for polypropylene at 250,000 metric tons.
With Dangote’s polypropylene production coming online, Nigeria is set to transition from being a net importer to an exporter of the commodity.
“NNPC has a capacity for 13,000 of polypropylene and when you add this to what Indorama has and the huge supply that we are going to have from the Dangote Refinery, effectively, we have become a net exporter of polypropylene,” he said.
He pointed out that Nigeria’s once-thriving textile industry has faced numerous challenges in recent years, such as high production costs, poor infrastructure, and stiff competition from imported textiles.
However, with the local production of polypropylene, manufacturers will no longer depend on imports, helping to lower costs and improve efficiency.
“We have seen the global trend of the textile industry relying on the petrochemical industry. So, you can imagine what boost this is going to bring to the sector,” he said.
“And that it is now available locally and does not require that we continue to look for foreign exchange to be able to meet our demands. It is actually a cheering news for manufacturers,” he said.
He urged the federal government to support manufacturers with incentives, stating that this would attract more investments into the sector and enhance its contribution to Nigeria’s GDP.
According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria imported polypropylene worth N230.97 billion in 2024, ranking it 12th among the top 15 imported products.
