War against unemployment has been staged by COMESA - Leather and Leather Products Institute(LLPI) in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia. The sector provides services like promoting productivity, Human resource development, Research development among others. COMESA/LLPI still helps private and public leather industries improve productivity, marketing and information.

With the support of COMESA/LLPI, many people believe that their problem has been solved mostly in Africa. A workshop aimed at changing the lives of Africans has been taken to Uganda. This has called for different African countries like Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya among others to gather in Uganda, Kampala. The workshop was slated for one week from the 22nd to 30th September 2017 at MTAC (Management Training and Advisory Center) in Nakawa Kampala Uganda.

Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperation Adan Mohamed told a leather forum in Nairobi that the country's leather sector is yet to fully recover from the effects of the Structural Adjustment Programs that were imposed on Kenya by the international donor community over 20 years ago.
"We are hoping that the strategy will help the leather sector to regain its competitiveness which made the country an exporter of finished leather products," Mohamed said.
The strategy provides a roadmap that will guide the East African nation's leather sector to tap its full potential.
Data from the ministry of industry indicates that Kenya is only able to produce 8 million pairs of shoes annually, leaving a deficit of 23 million pairs. Read More ...

The government will create a Sh130 million revolving fund in 2017/18 financial year for lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the leather industry.

Industry, Trade and Co-operatives Cabinet secretary Adan Mohamed yesterday said the funds will be sourced from a regional financial institution and the Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE).

“We are in the final stage of negotiations with the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank, commonly known as PTA Bank, for a Sh30 million loan.

KIE will commit from its annual budget Sh100 million as part of taming finance challenges small traders are grappling with,” he said. Addressing the media in Nairobi after launching a five-year strategic plan aimed at revitalising the leather footwear sector, Mohamed said the funds will be advanced at special rates below the market rate.

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Kenya is planning to revive its leather industry, with at least Sh130 million set aside to fund Small Medium Enterprises(SMEs) in the leather sector.

Speaking during a forum with members of the Kenya Footwear Manufacturers Association (KFMA) early this week, Industrialization Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed said the funds will be used to build workspaces for SMEs in all the 47 counties.

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The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Leather and Leather Products Institute (LLPI) will support selected Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in the local leather sector, making a significant contribution to the growth of the leather industry in Zambia.

Local press in Zambia is quoting Awlachew Ayenew from COMESA-LLPI: “The leather value chain in Zambia has potential to grow given the ever-growing livestock sector in the past years, which has consequently led to the increased production of hides and skins”.

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Twenty seven years ago the COMESA Leather and Leather Products Institute (LLPI), was established headquartered in Addis Ababa to bolster the leather industry in the 10 nations which make up COMESA: Ethiopia, Burundi, Eretria, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They are estimated to have the potential of earning USD 500 billion from leather products annually. In the last 10 years profits have been increasing and their revenue has been closer to 200 billion. COMESA nations currently experience challenges like dependence on commodities, the perception that local products are inferior, lack of skilled workers, and the need for supportive policies. Kenya’s Dr. Mwinyikione Mwinyihija, Executive Director of COMESA/LLPI, who has a PhD in Environmental Science says, “we can bring in billions more dollars if we apply the right intervention with a full commitment.” Capitals’ Tesfaye Getnet sat down with him to find out more about COMESA/LLPI. Read More...

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) countries more than doubled their shoes imports from China in five years while intra-regional trade in footwear is on the decline. Chinese footwear exports to Comesa increased by 218.2 per cent from $241 million (Sh24.1 billion) in 2009 to $767 million (Sh76.7 billion) in 2014.

A one-week forum in Hawasa, Ethiopia, organised by the Comesa Leather and Leather Products Institute (LLPI) noted that China’s relative importance in the regional market grew from contributing 61per cent to 72 per cent of the footwear import bill in the same period.

Comesa LLPI director general Mwinyikione Mwinyihija said the Asian nation’s exports into the region are much higher compared to intra-trade in footwear which has retreated to 2.2 per cent from 6.8 per cent.

“The impact of China in the Comesa market is visible. But many small and medium enterprises as well as consumers rate the quality of Chinese products as below market expectation,” he said.

“However, these shoes are lowly-priced. It is, therefore, imperative that SMEs should aim to produce quality, durable and competitively-priced products to ward off competition from China,” added Mwinyihija. Comesa imported leather worth $41 million (Sh4.1 billion) from the rest of the world in 2014 compared to $31 million (Sh3.1 billion) in 2009.

Mwinyihija said growth in finished leather imports has been slow in comparison to footwear imports, which reached $1 billion (Sh100 billion) in 2014 from $391 million (Sh39.1 billion) in 2009.

“This is a reflection that the Comesa footwear and leather goods production segment is not growing in tandem with the rising demand. The slow growth was attributed to a plethora of constraints for SMEs,” he added.

Source : http://www.mediamaxnetwork.co.ke/business/288372/comesa-countries-lift-china-shoe-trade/

A new regional design studio offering skills training to boost production and exports of finished leather goods in Eastern and Southern Africa has been hailed a success by project partners. Mwinyikione Mwinyihija, Executive Director of the Commonwealth Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute, has expressed the organisation’s “appreciation and gratitude” to the Commonwealth Secretariat for providing technical and financial assistance to establish the studio.

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Mwinyikione Mwinyihija, the Executive Director of COMESAs Leather and Leather Products Institute said the leather sector in Eastern and Southern Africa has great potential to deliver the much needed linkages into global value chains.

Leather producers in Eastern and Southern Africa have traditionally exported raw hides, bringing in a limited income but a new design studio that opens today in Mombasa, Kenya promises to increase the value of the leather market. Providing artisanal skills and fashion design expertise, the studio will boost the industry by opening up new business opportunities for the production of high-end leather goods.

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A Regional Design Studio (RDS) is being set up to help Africans in the leather industry become more competitive in the international market. 

The launch of the project and the Training Workshop in Creative and Technical Design is being held at Mombasa Continental Resort, from today until May 12th, 2016.

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