Basazin Assefa, a customer who frequently chooses to buy local footwear brands says, “Ethiopians need to feel proud for using their domestic products. They should be proud of the trademark Made in Ethiopia. They need to wear and promote them to others”.
Bassazin added that many local footwear products are competent and in some cases better in terms of quality compared to some imported ones. They are durable. However, some products lack comfort in some kind. Thus, the industries need to work on the comfort of the shoes.They need to produce shoes with different style, comfort and purpose, he explained.
As to Bassazin the industries need to work on producing light and comfortable goods.Their products should give comfort if worn casually. For him the price of the local shoes is not expensive. This is mainly due to the availability of skin in our country, as to him.
Eyob Argaw, Production and Plan Manager of Kangaroo Shoe, told that the consumption of local shoes has been increasing over time with the improvement of the quality of their products.Some of the products are of fine quality. They are of export quality and are being dispatched to foreign countries, he said.
Eyob told that the price of the items is calculated based on the total cost incurred during production. About 70 to 80 percent of the raw materials are imported from abroad. This is one of the major factors that contribute to price increment, he said.
Ayda Alemayehu, Salesperson at Tobel Cultural Cloth, the cultural clothes sold at her shop is worn occasionally. This is because the products are not comfortable to be worn daily. Buyers come to her shop during holidays and special events, she said.
Ayda told that the production process of the clothes is difficult, time consuming and labor intensive. Due to this reason, the price of the clothes is high compared to casual clothes, she pointed out.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald Ashenafi Melesse, Communication Affairs Director at Federal Small and Medium Scale Industry Authority, uncovered the major reason behind low demand for domestic product is price competition. Besides,comfort and durability are also indisputable desires of the consumers, he said.
Ashenafi, told that the expensiveness is mainly due to the total expenditure during the manufacturing of the products. Some of the raw materials needed for the production of the goods such as chemicals and garments are imported from abroad and, thus, causes price increment on the products, added the Director.
Apart from their price, the domestic products are of fine quality compared to some import goods. The import products are less durable and are not comfortable. Thus, consumers would drive a better satisfaction from domestic products than the imported ones, said the Director.
As to Ashenafi, local manufacturers minimize their cost of production in order to fit to the market price. They spend less on the production process which inturn could affect the quality of the finished product. Otherwise, they do have the capacity to produce quality goods, as to him.
Ashenafi added that the authority is helping the local industries technically and financially in order escalates their production capacity both qualitatively and quantitatively. It is providing manufacturers with loans and machineries to ease the process of production, he uncovered.
“Quality should be uncompromising market strategy for all producers. It is a desirable value which manufacturers should focus on. Quality and comfort are interdependent”, said Ashenafi.
The Director stressed the fact that Ethiopians need to develop the habit of using domestic products. Citizens need to consume from these manufacturers. They need to stand beside these factories. This would enable the manufacturers produce goods with better quality as well as quantity as in the future. This way the country can have legendaryindustries, as to him.
Alike other nations, we need to feel pride by using their local products regardless of the shortcomings they have. We need to develop such a psychology. This is how other countries have succeeded in having giant industries.
It is the only way to industrializing our country too, expressed the Director.Local manufacturers need to produce a variety of shoes and cloth in order to satisfy their customers. They need to produce comfortable and durable goods. They need to introduce new machineries that could ease the production process, learnt from the consumers.
The Ethiopian Herald, June 29/2019
BY GETAHUN LEGESSE
