B e n d D o w n S e l e c t
( T h r i f t i n g )
H o w T o E x p o r t Y o u r
F a s h i o n T o T h e W o r l d
I n s i d e N i g e r i a ’ s
T h r i v i n g F a s h i o n
I n d u s t r y
A publication of Sterling Bank Plc © 2020
All correspondence should be forwarded to꞉
Strategy & Innovation Group, 9th Floor , Sterling T owers, 20, Marina Lagos
Thrifting is a v er y popular concep t in
Nigeria and has been f or decades.
W h i l e n o b o d y c a n s a y w h e n w e st ar t ed thrifting, most people agr ee that it
h a s b e e n i n e x i s t e n c e f o r a w h i l e a n d
b e c a m e p o p u l a r a f t e r t h e c i v i l w a r . I t s
hist or y can be tr aced back t o the 1950s in
Okrik a, Riv er s st at e, when the r st deliv er y
o f u s e d c l ot h e s f r o m Eu r o p e b e g a n F o r
Okrik a, the city' s pr o ximity t o the coast, as
we l l a s i t s f u n c t i o n a s a m a j o r p o r t fo r s h i p p i n g g o o d s i n t o N i g e r i a m a k e s i t a prime location f or second‑hand goods t o en t er the coun tr y
H o w it became popular
It essen tially became popular because it w as cheaper and r eadily av ailable clo thing fo r a p o p u l a t i o n r e c u p e r a t i n g f r o m t h e do wn turn o f a civil w ar . While man y elit es s a w i t a s u n c l e a n c l o t h e s , i t w a s g o o d enough f or the poor er population. Man y people couldn't a or d t o ge t ne w clo thes b e c a u s e t h e p r i c e s f o r m a n u f a c t u r e d clo thes w er e high. So , its demand w as high and the mark e t thriv ed; man y , thr ough the buying and selling o f these clo thes, w er e able t o suppor t their f amilies. The clo thes w er e display ed on the oor so people had t o bend do wn t o select the one the y w an t ed; hence the name.
In the early , it made a r enaissance 2000s w h e n t h e t e e n a g e p o p u l a t i o n b e g a n t w e a r t h r i f t c l o t h i n g l a r g e l y d u e t o t h in uence o f American pop cultur e and its f ashion conno t ations. Thrift st or es had “ chic c l o t h i n g ” c o m p o s e d o f v i n t a g e T s h i r t ( s t r i p e d t e e s a n d a ny t h i n g w i t h v i n t a g gr aphics, in par ticular ), s w eat er s, and w orn and t orn jeans. The laid‑back and aloo f look t h e t h r i f t c l o t h e s p r e s e n t e d b e c a m f ashionable and e v er ybody go t baseball caps, and mom jeans and w an t ed t o dr ess lik e “jock s ”
Similar t o the case o f Nigeria post ‑ w ar , thrift f ashion made ano ther r e turn in aft er 2008 the global nancial crisis. A t the time, the h ype w as no longer about ho w e xpensiv e an out t w as; it w as no w about ho w cheap it c o s t t o a c q u i r e . I m e a n , a l o t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n w a s b r o k e , s o a u n t i n g h o w e xpensiv e a f ashion it em w as when people w e r e i n s e r i o u s n a n c i a l t r o u b l e w a s t actless; as a r esult, thrift f ashion became a br agging righ t. In mor e r ecen t times, the y hav e become mor e accep t able due t o the gr o wing concerns o f en vir onmen t al issues and r egar ding the une thical con tr o v er sies tr eatment o f w ork er s in the f ast f ashion i n d u s t r y a n d t h e i r u n s a f e w o r k i n g conditions.
So , wh y is it in v ogue no w , and what mak es it a good busines s Since the pandemic, w e hav e seen a huge rise in demand f or thrift and the business has gr o wn tr emendously . Although people hav e been w earing used clo thes f or a long time, online thrift st or es ar e becoming mor e popular and ar e r elativ ely ne w The e v er
changing space in the commer ce industr y has been a cat aly st f or the ne w e v olution. As m o re b u s i n e s s e s t a k e a d va n t a g e o f t h e s o c i a l m e d i a m a r k e t p l a c e t o s e l l t h e i r goods, mor e people ar e mo tiv at ed t o buy these goods. This is because people do no t necessarily w an t t o leav e their homes t o go shopping; the mor e con v enien tly the y can do so , the be tt er f or them. The r egulations guiding the Nigerian bor der hav e also made it possible f or t ons o f thrift t o be impor t ed in t o the coun tr y
The r ele v ance in the socie ty
G l o b a l l y , t h e t h r i f t f a s h i o n b u s i n e s s h a s b e c o m e a b o o m i n g i n d u s t r y , a t t ra c t i n g millions in capit al. A ccor ding t o a , the r epor t industr y is siz eable t o be about $14.4 billion. As the mark e t k eeps e xpanding and mor e Nigerians ge t on the thrift tr ain, it is clear that this tr end w ould help Nigerian socie ty in the f ollo wing w ay s꞉
E m p o w e r m e n t ꞉ T h e t h r i f t i n d u s t r y h a s i m p r o v e d p e o p l e ' s i n c o m e l e v e l s . I t h a s b e e n a c a t a l y s t f o r e m p o w e r m e n t , e s p e c i a l l y fo r wo m e n a n d yo u t h . I t h a s h e l p e d a c h i eve n a n c i a l i n d e p e n d e n c e thr ough the acquisition o f sust ainable and a o r d a b l e c l o t h i n g o p t i o n s I t h a s a l s o helped MSMEs gr o w and this is because en tr y cost is lo w with little capit al.
A ff o r d a b l e C l o t h i n g ꞉ W i t h t h e g ro w i n g incr ease in prices o f goods, and the high cost o f living in Nigeria, the thrift industr y o e r s a p a t h t o a l l e v i a t e t h e c o u n t r y ' s i n a t i o n a r y b u r d e n . M o r e p e o p l e n o w spend w ay less ge tting f ast f ashion it ems and ar e mor e eager t o in v est in quality it ems that ar e o f cheap prices. A ccor ding t o N a t i o n a l B u r e a u o f S t a t i s t i c s , t h e c o u n t r y c u r r e n t l y s p e n d s a b o u t 1 5 % o n clo thing.
Environmental consciousness꞉ Nigerians ar e no w becoming mor e en vir onmen t ally
c o n s c i o u s T h e y a r e n o w a w a r e o f t h e
i m p a c t s o f t h e f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y o n t h e
e nv i r o n m e n t a n d a r e n o w i n t e r e s t e d i n
joining the gh t f or sust ainability P eople
a r e n o w a n d p r o ‑ a o r d a b l e a n t i ‑w a s t e
c l o t h i n g ; t h ey n o l o n g e r w a n t t o w a s t e
c l o t h e s o r r e s o u r c e s . T h e y a r e n o w i n t e r e s t e d i n u p c y c l i n g a n d r e c y c l i n g r e s o u r c e s , w h i c h i n c l u d e c l o t h e s a s a r esour ce. The purpose o f this is t o r educe the clo thing w ast e in b y giving clo thes a land lls second lif e and t o r educe the const an t need t o pr oduce ne w clo thing.
What does the futur e hold?
Thrift is e xpect ed t o r emain mainstr eam and gain mor e popularity with the y ounger p o p u l a t i o n . Ov e r a l l , i t i s l i k e l y t h a t t h r i f t clo thing will con tinue t o be a popular op tion f or man y Nigerians in the futur e, driv en b y f a c t o r s s u c h a s e n v i r o n m e n t a l s u s t a i n a b i l i t y , a o rd a b i l i t y , a n d f a s h i o n tr ends. H o w e v er , the futur e o f thrift clo thing w i l l a l s o d e p e n d o n f a c t o r s s u c h a s e c o n o m i c g r ow t h , c h a n g e s i n c o n s u m e r p r e f e r e n c e s , a n d t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f alt ernativ e op tions in the mark e t.
F ashion design has been ar ound since at
l e a s t 1 8 2 6 . P e o p l e b e l i e v e t h a t C h a r l e s F r ederick W or th w as the v er y r st f ashion designer . Charles st ar t ed out as a dr aper be f or e se tting up a f ashion house in P aris. It w a s f r o m t h i s g r e a t c i t y t h a t f a s h i o n e v olv ed; and b y the turn o f the 20th cen tur y , f ashion it ems w er e being mass‑pr oduced, a n d p e o p l e c o u l d w e a r w h a t e v e r t h e y chose.
T o d a y , t h a t i n d u s t r y h a s b e c o m e a m u l t i b i l l i o n ‑ d o l l a r g l o b a l e n t e r p r i s e spr eading acr oss the w orld, including
N i g e r i a S t a t i s t a p r o j e c t s t h e f a s h i o n industr y in Nigeria t o gr o w t o US$1. 7 billion in 2 0 2 3 N i g e r i a i s b l e s s e d w i t h s e v e r a l cr eativ es and f ashion businesses in Nigeria a c c o u n t f o r m o r e t h a n 3 0 % o f s m a l l businesses in Nigeria. The success o f se v er al designer s in the in t ernational community as w ell as the e xpor t ation o f Nigerian cultur e (f ood, music, lingua e t c.) has incr eased the
g l o b a l d e m a n d f o r o u r f a s h i o n a n d w e clearly need t o nd a w ay t o impr o v e our supply .
It is no t eas y t o do business in Nigeria. The E ase o f Doing Business Inde x r ank s Nigeria 130th out o f 190 coun tries so w e under st and that it can be in t ense and di cult but w e h a v e t r i e d t o s i m p l i f y i t f o r y o u A s a n individual or business o wner , the me thod o f e xpor t y ou choose w ould primarily depend on the type and quan tity o f goods y ou wish t o e xpor t. If y ou ar e e xpor ting in lar ge and “ risky” quan tities, y ou migh t w an t t o do it thr ough a commer cial bank. If , on the o ther hand, y ou ar e no t e xpor ting so man y it ems, y o u c a n c h o o s e t o u s e y o u r f a v o u r i t e logistics compan y , but no t man y people ar e f amiliar with this.
I mean, the w orld has seen y our designs and w an ts y ou t o send a subst an tial amoun t o f y our goods t o them or y ou ar e e v en looking t o e xpor t one day; one o f the things y ou need t o t ak e in t o cogniz ance when tr ying t o e x p o r t f r o m N i g e r i a i s c a l l e d t h e R e g i s t r a t i o n o f I n t e n t i o n t o e xpor t/ Ob t aining a f orm NXP . Y ou can do this b y ob t aining the f orm NXP ( no w e‑ f orm N X P ) f r o m t h e C B N Tr a d e M o n i t o r i n g S y st ems ( TRMS ) por t al. As an e xpor t er fr om Nigeria, y ou' d need t o comple t e this . f orm
Figur e 1꞉ CBN TRMS P or t al
H old on!!! N o t t o giv e y ou a headache, but ther e ar e some necessar y documen ts y ou need t o add t o y our comple t ed f orm. These ar e꞉
1. Pr o f orma in v oice꞉
As an e xpor t er , y ou will send this f orm acr oss t o t h e i m p o r t e r ( i . e . t h e i n d i v i d u a l o r b u s i n e s s b u y i n g y o u r g o o d s ) . T h i s i s t o con rm and r equest paymen t f or an or der
T h e p r o f o r m a i n v o i c e c o n t a i n s v i t a l in f ormation such as the pr oduct de t ails, pr oduct v alues, curr enc y , inco t erms ( a se t o f 11 in t ernationally r ecogniz ed rules which d e n e t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s of s e l l e r s a n d
b u y e r s ) , s e l l e r a n d b u y e r i n f o r m a t i o n , shipping de t ails e t c. Ther e ar e tw o r easons wh y y ou need a pr o f orma in v oice꞉
a. It is the basis f or all impor t and e xpor t tr ansactions. It will also help y ou in y our ne xt nego tiations or con tr acts.
b It w ould help the impor t er t o ob t ain an impor t licence, wher e needed, and f or eign e x change t o comple t e the con tr act.
2 . N i g e r i a E x p o r t P r o m o t i o n C o u n c i l (NEPC ) cer ti cat e꞉
A s a N i g e r i a e x p o r t e r , yo u a l s o h a ve t o r egist er with the Nigeria Expor t Pr omo tion Council. The NEPC w ould then issue y ou a cer ti cat e that w ould enable y ou t o e xpor t agricultur al commodities & manuf actur ed g o o d s . H o w e v e r , n o t e t h a t t h i s v e r y impor t an t cer ti cat e is only v alid f or the r st 2 4 m o n t h s . F o l l o w i n g t h a t , y o u h a v e t o r e n e w i t a n n u a l l y T h e r e g i s t r a t i o n i s curr en tly N13,500 and the y early r ene w al is N7 ,500
3. M anuf actur er' s cer ti cat e꞉
T h i s c e r t i c a t e i s i s s u e d t o t h e b u ye r . I t asser ts that the pr oducts or der ed b y them hav e been pr oduced and ar e being saf ely st or ed.
4 . C o r p o r a t e A a i r s C o m m i s s i o n ( C AC ) cer ti cat e꞉
T h i s i s a c e r t i c a t e o f i n c o r p o r a t i o n / r egistr ation issued b y the Corpor at e A air s Commission ( C A C ). It simply cer ti es that y our business e xists legally and that it has the righ t t o do business.
5. C onsular in v oice꞉
Some coun tries usually demand this. It is a documen t, o ft en in thr ee copies, submitt ed t o the consul or embass y o f a coun tr y t o which y ou w an t t o e xpor t. This is done be f or e t h e g o o d s a r e s e n t a c r o s s E xa m p l e s o f coun tries that ask f or this include K en y a, L a t i n A m e r i c a , U g a n d a , T a n z a n i a , N e w Z ealand, Z anzibar , Ir aq, Fiji, Nigeria, Cyprus, Ghana, M auritius, and Guinea.
6. C er ti cat e o f origin꞉
This cer ti cat e o ft en abbr e viat ed as v er y impor t an t documen t f or impor e xpor t. It asser ts that goods in a par e x p o r t s h i p m e n t w e r e w h o l l y o b pr oduced, manuf actur ed, or pr ocessed speci c coun tr y . It simply sho w s the of o r i g i n of y o u r ex p o r t i te m s I t pr ocessed . her e
7 . Pr oducts C er ti cation f or Expor ts꞉
This is issued b y the S t andar d Or ganisation o f N i g e r i a ( S O N ) . Yo u a r e i s s u cer ti cat e aft er it has been con rmed y our Nigerian‑made goods giv e cust the r equir ed degr ee o f satisf action and badass f ashion per son, y ou cer t ainly
8. Bill o f e x change꞉
It is simply a binding documen t be tw een an e xpor t er and y our buy er wher e y our agr ees t o pay y ou a cer t ain sum o f mone an agr eed time. Bank s usually act p a r t i e s i n b i l l s o f t o e x c h a n g e paymen t and r eceip t o f funds.
9 . I nsur ance cer ti cat e꞉
Y ou don't w an t t o hear st ories that t ouch so i n s u r a n c e i s n e c e s s a r y. Y o u r i n s u r a n c e cer ti cat e v eri es ho w much insur ance y ou hav e and usually con t ains in f ormation on c o v e r a g e t y p e s a n d l i m i t s , i n s u r a n c e c o m p a ny , p o l i cy n u m b e r , n a m e d i n s u r e d ( t h e p e r s o n w h o a n i n s u r a n c e p o l i c y m e n t i o n s e x p l i c i t l y b y n a m e ) , a n d t h e policies' e ectiv e periods.
10 . Bill o f lading꞉
T h e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n c o m p a n y i s s u e s t h i s d o c u m e n t t o a s h i p p e r . T h e d o c u m e n t c l e a r l y s t a t e s t h e t y p e , q u a n t i t y , a n d destination o f the goods. R emember , it is a v er y crucial documen t in in t ernational tr ade t o ensur e that y ou as an , r eceiv e e xpor t er y our paymen t and the impor t er r eceiv es the mer chandise.
11.Expor t packing lis t꞉
T h i s a c c o m p a n i e s t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l s h i p m e n t , a n d l e t s t h e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n c o m p a n i e s k n o w e x a c t l y w h a t t h e y a re mo ving. It also allo w s e v er y one in v olv ed in t h e t r a n s a c t i o n to c h e c k w h a t h a s b e e n shipped against the pr o f orma in v oice.
Ther e y ou hav e it!! As a t op e xpor t er that y ou a r e , t h e s e a r e t h e v e r y i m p o r t a n t documen ts that goes in t o the pr ocess o f e x p o r t i n g g o o d s . A l t h o u g h t h e r e a r e commer cial agen ts that help with this, it is impor t an t t o kno w them y our self Of cour se, y ou hav e t o deal with Cust oms t oo , but as long as it is legal, y ou will be ne.
We k n o w y o u m i g h t h a v e q u e s t i o n s o r concerns; r each us at TBH her e
Fa s h i o n m a n y t i m e s re e c t s a
f orm o f self ‑e xpr ession thr ough
clo thing it ems. P eople also nd
f a s h i o n c o mf o r ta b l e a n d s o m et i m e s
r e e c t i v e o f t h e i r c o m m u n i t y , a r t ,
tr ends and climat e. F or most climes
ar ound the w orld, f ashion o ft en r e ects
thr ough the w eather / time o f the y ear;
hence f ashion tr ends in win t er seem t o
b e d i e re n t f ro m f a s h i o n t re n d s i n summer in places wher e these seasons ar e applicable.
Fashion man y times r e ects a f orm o f
self ‑e xpr ession thr ough clo thing it ems.
P eople also nd f ashion com f or t able and some times r e ectiv e o f their community , a r t , t r e n d s a n d c l i m a t e . F o r m o s t c l i m e s a r o u n d t h e w o r l d , f a s h i o n o f t e n r e e c t s thr ough the w eather / time o f the y ear; hence f ashion tr ends in win t er seem t o be di er en t fr om f ashion tr ends in summer in places wher e these seasons ar e applicable.
Ho w e v er , one thing is sur e, f ashion is a
mone y mak er . Prior t o the Co vid‑ 19 p a n d e m i c , t h e f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y ' s global r e v enue w as estimat ed be tw een $1. 7 t r i l l i o n $ 2 . 5 t r i l l i o n a n d , a c c o rd i n g t o t w o di er en t r esear ch r epor ts b y E ur omonit or and M cKinse y , with A frica' s shar e estimat ed at less t h a n 1 % o f t h a t t o t a l a m o u n t A l s o , E ur omonit or suggests that the Sub‑Sahar an f a s h i o n m a r k e t i s w o r t h , w i t h $ 3 1 b i l l i o n
N i g e r i a a c c o u n t i n g f o r 1 5 % o f t h a t ( $ 4 . 7 billion ), signi can tly lo w er than South A frica' s $ 1 4 . 4 b i l l i o n , e v e n w i t h f o u r t i m e s t h e population.
The r eason w e hav en't been able t o maximiz e t h e v a l u e h e r e i s o u r c u l t u r e o f i m p o r t .
A ccor ding t o the N ational Bur eau o f S t atistics
( N B S ) , t h e t e x t i l e , a p p a re l , a n d f o o t w e a r ( f a s h i o n ) s e c t o r h a s a c h i e v e d a m e a g r e gr o wth o f 17% since 2010 The r easons f or this r ange fr om the cost o f pr oduction t o access t o r a w m a t e r i a l s a n d a c c e s s t o t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l m a r k e t . W h a t t h e n h a p p e n s when w e ar e able t o aggr egat e a solution t h a t , f o r e x a m p l e , r e d u c e s t h e c o s t o f p r o d u c t i o n a n d p r o v i d e s a c c e s s t o r a w m a t e r i a l s a n d m a r k et s ; we c o u l d i m p r o v e local pr oduction.
Be f or e diving in t o this, it is essen tial t o under st and that f ashion goes
b e y o n d a p p a r e l b u t i n c l u d e s a c c e s s o r i e s a n d f o ot we a r . Fa s h i o n pr oduction hubs ar e locations wher e a signi can t por tion o f the f ashion industr y' s manuf acturing occur s. Lik e an y o ther hub , it simply means that manuf actur er s gather in a location t o manuf actur e clo thes t o maximise pr oduction and r educe cost.
Pr oducer s hav e cheaper access t o r aw mat erials, labour and the mark e t b y cr eating a hub . The electricity and o ther pr oduction costs ar e then split and shar ed amongst all play er s in the space. H ence, a typical f ashion hub will i nvo l ve a p p a r e l , fo o t w e a r a n d a c c e s s o r i e s m a k e r s . A l t h o u g h fa s h i o n i s pr o t able, ther e is a cost t o it. The v alue chain f or f ashion gener ally mo v es fr om pr oduction ( which includes sour cing f or r aw mat erials and componen ts, sub‑ assembling and assembling )t o logistics and sour cing t o design, sales and b r a n d i n g . F o r t h i s r e a s o n , h u b s h a v e b e c o m e n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e f a s h i o n industr y' s success in Nigeria. While Nigeria is no It aly , P aris or N e w Y ork in t erms o f high‑end f ashion, its population mak es it a viable place f or f ast f ashion.
TBH is a f ashion hub locat ed in the city
cen tr e o f L agos o f Opebi, Ik eja. TBH o er s access t o necessar y equipmen t and garmen t ‑making r esour ces at the user' s c o n ve n i e n c e w h i l e re m ov i n g t h e c a p i t a l r equir emen t o f o wning multiple machines f or v arious purposes. With TBH , an y one can ve n t u r e i n t o fa s h i o n e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p a s the y also pr o vide business suppor t f or the n e w b i e i n t h e f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y , t h e r e b y er adicating cost and kno wledge barrier in the f ashion space. Apar t fr om serving as a p r o d u c t i o n h u b , T B H a l s o h e l p s s m a l l b u s i n e s s e s w i t h r e g i s t r a t i o n a n d document ation while pr o viding access t o nance and mark e t.
TBH is just one e x ample, and ther e r emains so much mor e t o be done r egar ding visibility and go v ernmen t par ticipation. Some times in 20 20 , thr ough a priv at e‑public par tner ship, N i g e r i a ' s Fe d e r a l E xe c u t i ve C o u n c i l ( F EC ) appr o v ed the est ablishmen t o f tw o hubs f or m a n u f a c t u r i n g s h o e s , g a r m e n t s a n d pr ocessing leather in Aba in Abia st at e and J anguz a in K ano st at e. The pr oject, costing N5. 1 billion, w as managed b y tw o companies, a Nigerian and a Chinese, and w as e xpect ed t o cr eat e ar ound 4, 330 jobs.
T h e B u s i n e s s H u b
Th e f u l l p o t e n t i a l o f t h e f a s h i o n
i n d u s t r y i n N i g e r i a c a n b e s t b e r e a l i z e d w h e n w e a d d r e s s t h e c h a l l e n g e s i n t h e v a l u e c h a i n . T h i s c u t s a c r o s s t h e f a r m e r s , t e x t i l e m i l l s t h a t g e n e r a t e t h e r a w m a t e r i a l s a n d o t h e r pr oduction st ages such as manuf acturing, mark e ting and logistics. In addition, t e xtiles ar e on the CBN' s no t eligible f or list o f it ems access t o f or eign e x change on the o cial mark e t, which leav es play er s in the industr y t o s o u r c e f o r f o r e i g n e x c h a n g e a t t h e par allel mark e t and in turn, incr eases the cost. T oday bo th co tt on pr oduction and the mills ar e no t able t o mee t the demand in Nigeria alone.
Indeed, addr essing the challenges f acing the Nigerian f ashion industr y w ould cr eat e o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r v a r i o u s s t a k e h o l d e r s , i n c l u d i n g c o n s u m e r s , s m a l l b u s i n e s s e s , p r e m i u m b r a n d s , a n d l a r g e s c a l e manuf actur er s. F or consumer s, the gr o wth o f the industr y could mean mor e op tions f or a o r d a b l e a n d st y l i s h c l ot h i n g ; f o r s m a l l businesses, it could mean access t o funding a n d r e s o u r c e s t o h e l p t h e m g r o w a n d compe t e with lar ger play er s in the mark e t; for pr emium br ands, it could mean access t o h i g h ‑ q u a l i t y l o c a l m a t e r i a l s a n d s k i l l e d a r t i s a n s ; a n d f o r l a r g e s c a l e m a n u f a c t u r e r s , i t c o u l d m e a n n e w oppor tunities f or in v estmen t and gr o wth.
W h y D o W e N e e d T h i s T o W o r k ?
The po t en tial economic bene ts o f a
t h r i v i n g f a s h i o n i n d u st r y i n N i g e r i a a r e s i g n i c a n t . C o u n t r i e s l i k e
C a m b o d i a S r i L a n k a a n d h a v e s e e n signi can t con tributions t o their GDP fr om their f ashion and t e xtile industries. A thriving f ashion industr y could also cr eat e jobs and help driv e economic gr o wth in o ther r elat ed s e c to rs , s u c h a s t r a n s p o r ta t i o n , l o g i s t i c s , and mark e ting.
M o r e o v e r , t h e g r o w t h o f t h e N i g e r i a n f ashion industr y could also hav e impor t an t social and cultur al implications. It could help pr omo t e Nigerian f ashion and cultur e bo th
domestically and in t ernationally and help s h owc a s e t h e c o u nt r y ' s d i v e rs e r a n g e of s t y l e s a n d d e s i g n s . A t h r i v i n g f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y i n N i g e r i a h a s t h e p o t e n t i a l t o c r e a t e s i g n i c a n t e c o n o m i c a n d s o c i a l b e n e t s f o r v a r i o u s s t a k e h o l d e r s B y a d d r e s s i n g t h e c h a l l e n g e s f a c i n g t h e i n d u s t r y a n d c r e a t i n g a s u p p o r t i v e en vir onmen t f or businesses t o gr o w , Nigeria could become a major play er in the global f a s h i o n i n d u s t r y . F o r N i g e r i a , t h e oppor tunities f or small businesses ar e v ast, r anging fr om job cr eation t o oppor tunities t o earn f or eign e x change and encour age t alen t in the f ashion industr y .
