ALLPI attended the Regional Enterprise Competitiveness and Access to Markets Programme (RECAMP) Project Steering Committee 2nd meeting that was held from 17th -18th August 2022 at Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, Lusaka, Zambia, that discussed the progress to date of the implementation of the RECAMP and TAF activities and the 2022 Annual Work plan.

More than 30 participants from COMESA Secretariat, Implementing Partner institutions and COMESA member States attended the meeting. ALLPI was represented by Prof. Mekonnen Hailemariam, Advisor to the Executive Director.

Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) in collaboration with the Government of Malawi Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism started the training of Artisans/MSME’s on Vegetable Tanning Techniques on June 6th, 2022. The Training aims at enhancing the skill of Selected SME’s to produce a quality of vegetable tanned leather by using vegetable tanning techniques.

Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) facilitated training of SMEs as ToT (Training of Trainers)  in transformative Entrepreneurship, Footwear and Leather Goods Design, Craftsmanship, Export readiness, Costing/Pricing and Record Keeping, was successfully conducted from May 16 to 28, 2022, at the Training and Production Center for Shoe Industry (TPCSI), Thika, Kenya. The training was organized in collaboration with the Kenya Leather Development Council, under BADEA Technical Assistance grant.

The aim of the training was to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of SMEs to attain growth through shifting  their  mindset and embrace changes, enhance SMEs technical capacity and economies of scale to supply both Public and Private Sector institutional buyers and promote replication through knowledge sharing & dissemination.A total of 30 participants, thirteen females and 17 male, with the majority from small and medium enterprises attended the training.

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.