Fashion designers seek inclusion in Abia industrial cluster development

By Ijendu Iheaka

 November 4, 2016 

The Association of Tailors and Fashion Designers (ATFAD) has called on the Abia government to include them in its programme aimed at promoting local businesses through creation of industrial clusters.

The call followed the state government’s allocation of about 35 hectres of land at Umukalika community in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia state for the leather products industrial cluster.

The request is contained in a statement made available to our reporter in Aba on Friday and signed by ATFAD President, Mr Onyebuchi Nwaigwe.

“The industrial cluster system we are asking for is good for developing economies and micro, small and medium scale enterprises which plays a key role in economic growth.

“It also ensures equitable development in developing economies like ours through their contribution to employment generation, poverty reduction and wider distribution of wealth and opportunities.

“The potential role of our association in developing the nation’s economy is often not realized because of problems associated with our size and scattered businesses of our members who have difficulty achieving economies of scale in purchasing raw materials.

“It also affects our businesses by discouraging collaborative efforts in purchasing equipment, gaining access to financing opportunities and human capacity development”, the association said.

ATFAD said that the cluster would enable them take advantage of available market opportunities requiring large quantity production, uniform standardization and regular supply which would boost Nigeria’s economy.

They also pleaded for a well-equipped Common Facility Centre (CFC) to train their personnel and create large scale exportable quality garments.

The group begged the government to help give its members access to business funds to purchase state-of-the-Art equipment and access to markets which had hindered their development for years.

The group said that if their requests were granted, the outcome would be increased high quality production which would increase foreign exchange earnings for Nigeria.