BY FIKADU BELAY
Ethiopia is one of the oldest leather-producing countries in the world, with a long history of producing high-quality leather products. The production of leather products has been a traditional craft in Ethiopia for centuries, with the country being home to some of the finest tanning techniques and methods.
Ethiopian leather products include a variety of items such as shoes, bags, belts, wallets, and other small leather goods. These products are sold both domestically and internationally, with Ethiopia being a major exporter of leather products to countries around the world.
Research shows that Ethiopia has the highest population of cattle in Africa. It has the largest livestock population in Africa, with 70 million cattle, 42 million sheep, 52 million goats, 8 million camels, and 56 million chickens. About eight million cowhide, twelve million sheepskin, and eight million goatskin products are produced in the nation each year with the assistance of livestock keepers.
The leather industry in Ethiopia is a significant contributor to the country’s economy, providing employment opportunities to many people in both rural and urban areas. Ethiopia’s leather and leather goods’ industry employed about 20,000 people directly and an additional 500,000 indirectly, according to a report from the International Trade Centre that was released in 2018. The tanning industry, the production of shoes, and the export of leather goods are all included in this.
According to Mekdes Sime, corporate sub manager of Peacock Shoe Factory, the level of the factory’s current leather production is lower than what it had been generating in the past. This, as to her, is a result of the depletion of leather resources, the scarcity of imported chemicals, and a shortage of foreign currency. She stressed that these problems need to be resolved right away by the government.
Five years ago, the country could earn 135 million Dollars a year from leather manufacturing alone, according to Solomon Getu, Secretary General of the Ethiopian Leather Industries Association. However, in the current situation, he stated that the country only earned 40 million Dollars from leather production in the past physical year. Possibly, he suggested that this year could not be as good as even the previous year.
Redman Bedada, President of Ethiopian Leather Industries Association, on his part said that the current situation of the export performance shows a continued decline, companies are working at very low capacity due to the shortage of input materials such as chemicals, accessories, and components, and some companies are not working in the sector due to a shortage of working capital and foreign currency deficit.
He also mentioned that the quality of the raw materials is deteriorating, and the sales price is falling. Though many leather product manufacturing companies have been flourishing, they are forced to close due to the shortage of finished leather and other input materials. The sector’s structural problem (clustering) is a big problem for its sustainability. “Despite the fact that Ethiopia has many industrial parks for various industries, there is no single park for the leather industry,” he added.
Chemicals are one of the basic ingredients used in the leather business, according to Zelalem Getachew, the owner of Favor Chemical Leather Products Enterprise. This substance is imported to a greater than 90 percent extent. The country needs a significant amount of foreign currency for this.
He further elaborated that in addition to the deficit of foreign currency in the country, the other countries’ failure to export chemicals is the cause of the shortfall this year. According to him, the government should make it easier for manufacturers to obtain loans and give them access to workspaces because if it doesn’t permit the production of chemicals in the country, it would have a huge impact on the production of leather goods.
Another challenge of the Ethiopian leather industry is that it also faces a significant problem in terms of market competitiveness. Despite the high quality of leather products produced in the country, the struggle to compete with products from other countries is extra headache to the sector due to poor marketing, lack of brand recognition, and inadequate promotion of Ethiopian leather products in the global market.
Ethiopia must increase its capacity to satisfy market demands for quality, safety, social accountability, productivity, and timeliness in order to fully take advantage of the potential. The Ethiopian Leather Industry Association (ELIA), which has more than 189 leather and leather product manufacturing companies in Ethiopia, can also work to enhance the capacity of the leather industry and create an enabling business environment in the leather sector.
Solomon further stated that Ethiopia has initiated the “Let Ethiopia Produce or Ethiopia Tamrit” campaign to recover the manufacturing industry’s production and productivity in the leather supply chain through enhancing export trade in the school shoe, bag, and belt scheme.
In this regard, over 600,000 leather goods have been produced and made available, and in the future, around 800,000 products will be produced, and 26.6 million students’ forms of uniforms are being prepared. Based on his estimates, this would provide 777, 000 work opportunities for citizens.
According to Solomon, in order to address these issues, the institution needs to develop substantial slaughterhouses and collaborate with a variety of stakeholders to offer free breeding education to the local population. The way the community raises animals and preserves their health is something that positively or negatively impacts quality of leather, he underlined.
He stated that the government needs to be able to assist these people in becoming informed about managing the leather that to be supplied to leather industries, and he maintained, “We also need to support and strengthen researchers who are working around production activities in the leather factories.” Melaku Alebel, Minister of Industry, said that to achieve these objectives, the government will continue its increased efforts to grow and improve the required infrastructure.
He stated, “We are focused on steps to enhance our human capital by expanding and providing standard health care and education services in order to accomplish the SDGs. Textile, leather, agro-processing, basic metals, pharmaceuticals, and meat and dairy processing facilities have also been built.”
Specific institutions have also been formed to assist the private sector in supplying skilled human resources and facilitating technology transfer in the textile, leather, agro-processing, basic metals, medicines, and meat and dairy processing sub-sectors, as to him. He also mentioned that there are direct links between universities, technical institutes, and the industry sector.
In line with this, the Ethiopian leather sector is dealing with substantial obstacles that are restricting its expansion and progress. All interested partners, including the government, business leaders, and development partners, must work together to address these issues. Some of the crucial actions that can be taken to accelerate the growth and development of the Ethiopian leather industry include raising market competitiveness, improving the quality of raw materials, and expanding the industry’s technological capability.
Furthermore, stakeholders from the private sector must work together to expand the market for Ethiopian leather products via awareness creation and to facilitate ease access to international markets. Ultimately, the leather sector has the potential to drive economic growth, create jobs, and help Ethiopia achieve its development goals, up on receiving proper management in a sustainable and responsible manner.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2023
