The COMESA Leather and Leather Products Institute organized a unique Workshop titled “Regional Leather Cluster Capacity Building: The Triple Helix Approach” in collaboration with the COMESA Secretariat and the EU-RISP program. This workshop, one of its kind related to the Leather sector in the region, was successfully held at CRESTA Loge in Harare, Zimbabwe from 18 to 19 June 2014.
The workshop brought together 45 participants from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, African Union Commission, EU, ITC, AMSCO, Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) of India and Ege University-Turkey. The participants were drawn from Public, Research, Academia and Leather Industry (private) sector which included established and start-off SME’s.
The main objectives of the workshop were to:
- Improve Members States’ capacity in the design, implementation and financing of SMEs Clusters;
- Improve the appreciation of the role of Universities and R and D in the development of SMEs Clusters;
- Develop a shared Regional perspective on developing the leather sector clusters among the key stakeholders;
- Concert with National Governments, Academia, Regional and International Development Partners on how the leather value chain can be taken to a higher level;
- Share current compliments and design strategies of replicating and up-scaling them taking into consideration the Governments, Academia, Private Sector and Development Partners perspectives;
- Propel with the Governments, Private Sectors, Academia and Development partners the proposed Service Centres and Incubation Centres development model for the development of the Footwear and Leather Goods clusters.
The out-put of the workshop was expected to contribute to the improved capacity of Government, Regional Universities and SMEs to enhance the implementation of the Cluster Program. This was envisaged to be pursued through a coherent Regional implementation and fundraising plan supported by respective National Governments, Academia, Private Sector and Development Partners. Subsequently, the workshop agreed on a Regional model and structure for implementing Clusters in Member States and the Region at large with a potential for interphase with other African countries for optimal benefit from the leather sector. At the end of the workshop there was a culminated improved awareness of the importance of the leather value chain in aspects associated with accruals towards economic development and Regional Integration of the COMESA Region. As such, a Regional results-oriented strategy for the leather sector was developed and agreed upon which finally complied with the Council of Ministers Recommendation (Kinshasa, February 2014) which directed LLPI to facilitate the Regional Leather Strategy Development.
The workshop included plenary sessions featuring high-level speakers, and panel sessions on topics specific to the leather sector. Here below are some of the main topics discussed.
- Importance of the Leather Value Chain and Selected Demographics of SME’s in the Region based on Dr. Mwinyihija’s research data for the SME’s potential in the Region;
- Introduction of the Role of SMEs and their Importance to Sustainable Development; Situational Analysis of SMEs, COMESA/LLPI Past, Current and Future Interventions; Recorded and Projected Impacts;
- The Experiences of CLRI and Ege University in Supporting the Development of the Leather Sector in India and Turkey, respectively: The Role of the Indian and Turkish Governments in Supporting the Leather Sector; How is the Private Sector organized; How are the Turkish and Indian Government, Academia and the Private Sectors interfacing;
- What lessons can the COMESA Member States through the Governments, Private Sector and Academia platforms, learn to improve the performance of the leather Value Chain in general.
Participants expressed satisfaction with the workshop and voiced their readiness to further the triple helix (Public-Private-Academia platform) approach as a mode of creating momentum and incentivization towards the leather sector development at National, Regional and Continental level in Africa. Conspicuously, during and after the meeting intense networking was evident with post workshop negotiations and collaborations fathomed by various participants on product development, market linkages and exchange visits anticipated.
