Clothes, accessories to gulp more cash

The budget does not seek to make the rich cry, but it is seeking to make them contribute more in taxes to ease budget implementation

It is projected that the cost of imported clothes and accessories for dressing and make-ups will continued rise, as the  2016 budget does not raise hopes for an improvement in the value of the naira against the US dollar.
Those who sell and patronize imported clothing items and accessories, such as shoes, bags and belts will experience hike in prices as keeping in sync with the Nigeria custom prohibition. They are on the banned list issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).  They come on Numbers 34, 35 and 36 which affect textiles, woven fabrics, and clothes respectively.
This implies that, those who import these items can no longer buy foreign currency from the official market to pay their suppliers.
Therefore, they would have to purchase forex from the parallel market or Bureau De Change to pay for their imports. This has the ripple effects of increasing items prices at the retail level.
Mr Chika Okeke who sells male clothing items said the prices of these items  have continued to go up. He explained that some items had up to 50 percent increase. Chika gets his goods from China, but has now resorted to sourcing items from Lagos and Aba.
People in this line of business should not expect relief soon as, even if the CBN ban is lifted, the “Import Prohibition List” of the Nigeria government has as No. 20: “All types of Foot Wears, Bags and Suitcases”. Beads, composed of inflammable celluloid or other similar substances are banned. So banned are piece goods and all other textiles including wearing apparel and second-hand clothing.
However, Made-in-Nigeria clothing items is expected to get a boost as the government had in more than one occasion reiterates its commitment to encourage a self-sustaining country that is tilted towards locally manufactured products than an import-oriented economy.
Chika said he decided to key into the government stance by purchasing some his goods from Aba and encouraging his customers to buy such goods because “with the way the government is going Nigerian goods might be the future of clothing business and I don’t want to be caught unawares.”
Temitope Are who sells women fashion, imports her goods from Dubai, America and Italy. She said in recent times she has reduced the number of times she travels out to purchase goods.
She said the prices of shoes, bags, cloths, suits have all increased by between 20 per cent and 50 per cent. She explained that she had started making enquiries on how to key into the Nigerian Market.
Will people still patronize imported goods? Temitope said “Yes, but it will be those few who buy for luxury and status. That is international designers’ labels that are already brand name and status symbol for the elite. But for those who buy for functionality and aesthetic they will shift towards Made-in-Nigeria goods.
Mr Adebayo Adeyanju said he has no problem patronizing clothes made in Nigeria, provided the quality is assured.
Meanwhile, catchphrases like “Buy Nigeria to Grow the naira”;  “Proudly Made-in-Nigeria” has continued to trend as they seem to enjoy support from social media users.