Dangote’s Failed Textile Venture and the Lessons for Nigerian Manufacturing

Aliko Dangote has described his investment in textiles as the biggest business mistake of his career. The businesses eventually closed, costing thousands of jobs, including 6,920 roles at Nigerian Textile Mills in Ikeja. He said competition from Chinese and Indian imports, alongside limited government protection, made it difficult for the companies to survive. But the wider textile industry also faced unstable electricity, high infrastructure costs, limited financing, policy uncertainty, smuggling and difficulty sourcing competitive inputs. The experience shows the challenges factories face when the wider industrial environment is weak. It may also explain why Dangote later focused on cement, fertiliser and refining, where local production, scale and infrastructure can offer stronger advantages.

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