COMESA’s programme for Building African Capacity for Trade (PACT II) has played a tremendous role in providing the necessary knowledge and skills for Kenya’s leather sector players. Through the programme they have shared experiences with other investors in the region and at the international arena and thus enhanced productivity.
Following a successful workshop in the country that aimed at building capacities of Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) and Technical Support Institutions for regional and International Leather Markets, the Kenya Leather Development Council (KLDC) also joined the core team of COMESA and got an opportunity to play an active role in critical activities that affect the leather sector within the region.
Through buyers and sellers meetings conducted in India and Italy, Kenyan tanners got an opportunity to discuss business in these countries and the exact benefit in terms of accrued contracts will be released soon after completion of the evaluation process by the Secretariat and the PACT II team of COMESA’s Leather and Leather Products Institute (LLPI).
Challenges in the leather sector vary from one country to another. In Kenya, the sector encounters such impediments as inadequate micro-financing institutions and minimal value addition initiatives.
Secretary-General, Sindiso Ngwenya, is, however, emphatic on the need for Member States to embrace value addition through development of small and medium size enterprises so as to promote inter-regional and international leather trade. He is optimistic that if this is adopted and other result oriented programmes put in place, tangible developments will be realized in the region and Africa at large.
He further reiterates that with the abundant raw material resources available in the region, it is important to embark on structured but result oriented project designs that will spur positive development. The importance of involving the private sector is also highly advocated for in order to drive the sector to greater heights.
Trading among countries is identified as one of the crucial areas for development of the sector as opposed to the current situation where most countries prefer to deal with overseas markets yet economies of scale could easily be realized within the region.
Despite the challenges experienced in the leather sector, it’s worth noting that most countries in the COMESA region are doing well in value addition to leather. This is so especially in tanning of Nile Perch skin in Uganda and sole manufacturing in Sudan. The Ethiopian leather industry is also vibrant, and other countries have a lot to learn from them and emulate their strategies for upstream value addition initiatives.
All these gains are only possible through spirited initiatives such as COMESA PACT II, programmes, which apart from sharing experiences in the leather sub-sector, are also involved in decisive areas of marketing of leather goods.
- Article courtesy of the Kenya Leather Development Council.