The delegation led by  Mr. MR.BINIAIM BERHE, CHARGÉ D’AFFAIRES  of the  Embassy of Eritrea in Ethiopia and Permanent Mission to AU & UNECA, visited the ALLPI Headquarters in Addis Ababa on 6^th September 2023. Mr. Biniam was accompanied by Mr. Zeresenai head of Administrative Issues in the Embassy and Mr. Mohammed (Bilateral relations).

The delegates were welcomed by Mr. Ghebregziabher Ghebremedhin, Acting Executive Director and Programs Coordinator of ALLPI together with the ALLPI team of Experts.

The objective of the visit was to understand the operations of ALLPI to the region in general and to Eritrea in particular.

Brief presentation was made by Mrs. Birkinesh Gonfa, Investment Trade and Marketing Expert of ALLPI focusing on major activities performed by ALLPI for the State of Eritrea. The following activities were conducted for Eritrea:

• National Leather Value Chain Strategy Development;
• Research and Development;
• Participation in the Consultative fora and experience sharing dialog meetings;
• Curriculum Development;
• Capacity Building activities at various levels of the leather value chain segments;
• Machinery support;
• Market linkages and B2B networking activities, and

Africa Leather and Leather Products institute (ALLPI) with the Government of Rwanda Ministry of Trade and Industry (MiNICOM) conducted a one day workshop on “Enhancing market access and local sourcing for Leather Enterprises” to selected Leather players from Kigali on 10^th August 2023 at Masaka Vocational Training Institute, Kigali.

The overall objective of the program is to give information regarding the supplier of input and main institutional buyers along the leather value chain to in hence the marketing activities of Leather players domestically as well as globally. The Training is the continuation of the training on TOT Leather Footwear & Goods Design Craftsmanship & Expert Readiness held on April, 2022.

7^th – 10^th of August 2023 an Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute delegation Conducted a 5-day field mission to Rwanda. The mission was organized as part of the collaboration of ALLPI and Rwanda leather stakeholders.

The delegation visited MINICOM, Rwanda TVET Board, leather enterprises in the value chain and the newly established Kigali Leather Cluster.

The delegation was well received by the honorable Permanent Secretary for industrial development Mr. Richard. The PS and the delegates discussed about the collaborations between Rwanda and ALLPI in the transformation of the leather sector. The PS also updated the delegates about the status of the leather park in the process of establishment.  Currently local manufacturers are depending on imported finished leather. This shows that currently the main bottleneck to the leather sector in Rwanda is a problem on the supply side other than the demand side. Taking into consideration this constraint the Rwanda government has launched to establish a Tanery Park in Bugasera District. This project is expected to have a big impact in the process of transformation of the leather sector of Rwanda. The PS applauded ALLPI’s intervention in the leather sector in Rwanda and requested ALLPI to continue its support to the leather sector in Rwanda. The Acting Executive Director in his turn reiterated that ALLPI’s commitment to work with MINICOM and Rwanda stakeholders in the transformation process of the leather sector in Rwanda.

The ambassador of the Embassy of Zambia in Ethiopia and permanent representative to the Africa Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Her Excellency Mrs Rose Kashembe Sakala visited ALLPI on the 22^nd August, 2023. The purpose of the visit was to acquaint herself with the work of ALLPI as well as have the opportunity to interact with some selected institutions and SMEs in the leather sector in Ethiopia. ALLPI facilitated a guided tour of Her Excellency to the selected institutions.

The ALLPI team led by the Acting Executive Director (Ag.ED) and Programmes Coordinator, Mr. Ghebregziabher Ghebremedhin welcomed the Ambassador and permanent representative to the AU and UNECA and expressed gratitude for her visit.

Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) in collboration of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the State of Eritrea conducted a Training of Trainers in “Footwear and leather good Design,Craftsmanship, Export Readiness, Transformative Entrepreneurship, Costing and Record Keeping” during 19^th July – 1^st August 2023 in Asmara, Eritrea.

The objective of the training was to:

1. Enhance SMEs knowledge landscap on Leather Footwear Design, Craftsmanship and Exports Readiness;
2. Facilitate SMEs growth through Shifting their Mindset and Embrace Changes;
3. Enhance MSMEs technical capacity and economies of scale to supply both Public and Private Sector institutional buyers;
4. Promote replication through knowledge sharing &dissemination.
5. Assisting SMEs understand the importance of correct and effective record keeping.
6. Control costs, make decisions and plan for future;
7. Set appropriate prices to make justifiable profit;

A total of 30 leather-based SME representatives from Asmara, Eritrea have attended the ToT program. The training is part of the technical assistance grant of the BADEA Project activity.

ALLPI in collaboration with Ethiopian Red Cross Society Training Institute organized 3 days Basic First Aid Training from 5^th – 7^th July 2023. This training was attended by 18 ALLPI staff members and the training was organized with the objective of awareness creation on First Aid and basic life saving fundamentals.