Insiders get chance to revive leather industry

What you need to know:

  • Members include Bata Shoe Company chief executive Alberto Errico, Dr Samuel Kiruthu, a director at Leather Technologies and Fashions Limited, Alpharama Limited managing director Sambasiva Rao and the acting secretary and chief executive at the Kenya Leather Development Council John Muriuki.

The government has appointed a taskforce to oversee the development of leather industry.

The move follows allocation of Sh3 billion in this year’s budget with part of the money going to the sector.

The team will supervise implementation of the leather development strategy that is meant to spur growth of the industry.

Industrialisation and Enterprise Development Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed said the taskforce will ensure that the industry with a potential to contribute $630 million (Sh53.6 billion) is fully developed through value-addition.

The taskforce comprises leading local leather industry players from the private and public sector. The team, known as the Leather Development Taskforce, will serve for a year.

The CS said among its roles will be to map out avenues to ensure efficient delivery and supply of leather products required by public sector consumers such as the Armed Forces and National Police Service among others.

“This task force has been appointed with a clear brief to share their wealth of experience on how the leather sector can be sustainably developed to create jobs and facilitate development of the leather sector in Kenya,” Mr Mohamed said.

The team will also evaluate viable models to be adopted in an engagement programme with the Ministry of Industrialisation and county governments geared at encouraging the latter to establish modern abattoirs’ and regional tanneries in their respective areas.

Bata Shoe

Members include Bata Shoe Company chief executive Alberto Errico, Dr Samuel Kiruthu, a director at Leather Technologies and Fashions Limited, Alpharama Limited managing director Sambasiva Rao and the acting secretary and chief executive at the Kenya Leather Development Council John Muriuki.

Others are director of industries Erastus Kimuri, veteran leather trader Robert Njoka and Sagana Tanneries executive director Yassin Awale, leading leather goods lady entrepreneurs Nalina Rupani and Mumtaz Mughal of Leather Life EPZ.