ALLPI at the meeting Organized by the Ministry of Commerce, Transport, Industry and Tourism of Burundi

Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI), following the invitation made by the Honorable Minister of Commerce, Transport, Industry and Tourism of Burundi, H.E. Marie Chantal NIJIMBERE, participated in the meeting held on 11^th February 2022 in Bujumbura, Burundi. The purpose of the meeting was to jointly develop Action Plan in some 24 activity areas that were identified as priority projects by the Ministry for the year 2022.  The meeting was attended by more than 50 representatives of different international and national institutions that included World Food Program, UNDP, ALLPI, UNIDO and many others and was chaired by the Honorable Minister H.E. Marie Chantal NIJIMBERE. ALLPI was represented by its Programs Coordinator, Mr. Ghebregziabher Ghebremedhin and the Advisor to the Executive director, Prof. Mekonnen Hailemariam.

ALLPI Conducted a ToT Training on Leather Manufacturing and Transformative Entrepreneurship in Eritrea

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 held Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop for SMEs in Bujumbura, Burundi

ALLPI Top Delegation Visited Rwanda

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.

ALLPI's intervention in Burundi

The Minister of Trade, Transport, Industry and Tourism, Hon. Marie Chantal NIJIMBERE reiterates her Government’s commitment to Support the Leather sector SMEs in Burundi, as she commends ALLPI for providing Technical Support to the Leather Sector MSMEs to boost Productivity and Competiveness.

COMESA Secretary General paid courtesy visit to ALLPI

The Secretary-General (SG) of COMESA, Her Excellency Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe visited ALLPI on Friday, 17th February 2023. This was a courtesy call visit to ALLPI, which is one of the COMESA institutions endorsed by the COMESA heads of states, and mandated to facilitate the development of the leather sector in Africa in general and the COMESA region in particular. She was accompanied by the Executive Support Officer in her office, Mrs. Maluba S. Sinyambo and the Chief Resource Mobilization and International Cooperation (Secretary General’s office- International Cooperation Unit).

The purpose of the visit was for her Excellency to get briefings on ALLPI activities towards the leather sector development in the 10 member countries of ALLPI and also identify areas where the COMESA secretariat can provide support.

Kenya Leather sector SMEs receive Technical Support to boost Productivity and Competitiveness

Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) continues to intensify efforts to boost its member states Leather sector SMEs Productivity and Competitiveness.
This intervention is made possible through the grant funding support provided by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).

The support comprises provision of “basic equipment for footwear production” and “capacity building Training in Footwear and leather good Design, Craftsmanship, Export Readiness, Transformative Entrepreneurship,  Costing and Record Keeping”.

Earlier this year ALLPI completed installation of equipment at the Training and Production Center for Shoe Industry (TPCSI) Thika, Kenya. TPCSI is a regional training center that was established by the Government of Kenya with support from UNIDO and other cooperating partners in the early nineties and the Government of Kenya and its cooperating partners have invested in infrastructure development support in terms of machines and equipment for the center over the years. The equipment provided by ALLPI recently through BADEA technical support is meant to facilitate the establishment of the Satellite Design Studio that aimed at enhancing design capacity development for the SMEs in Kenya.

Rwanda Leather sector SMEs receive Technical Support to boost Productivity and Competiveness

Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) continues to intensify efforts to boost its member states Leather sector SMEs Productivity and Competitiveness.
This intervention is made possible through the grant funding support provided by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA). The support comprises provision of “basic equipment for footwear production” and “capacity building Training in Footwear and leather good Design, Craftsmanship, Export Readiness, Transformative Entrepreneurship,  Costing and Record Keeping”

Workshop to Enhance market access and local sourcing for Leather players conducted in Kigali, Rwanda

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.