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Botswana Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) has teamed up with the European Union (EU) on an exciting new scheme. In preparation for the upcoming leather park in Lobatse, expected to be operational by 2025, the enterprise intends to capacitate local enterprises in leather work and production.
Speaking on the sidelines of a visit by EU Deputy Ambassador to Botswana and SADC, Myriam Ferran-en to check the project’s progress, LEA Chief Operations Officer (COO), Fana Kelebogile revealed gloves used in mines have been identified as the first assignment. Working in collaboration with foreign entrepreneurs from the north, LEA has identified 15 individuals from five textile, manufacturing, and fashion enterprises for training. The selected group will embark on a three-month course, with the programme covering: skills training, machine operations, and production of industrial leather personal protective equipment. Kelebogile explained the aim is to grow a fully-fledged leather industry, which will create job opportunities and ultimately wealth for locals.
Since the leather park is going to tan skin and hide into finished leather, the country needs to have enterprises that can add more value to the leather. It is pertinent to establish Small, Micro, and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) in the leather value chain since the government is currently advocating for value chain development. The value chain opportunities in the leather industry to be tapped by entrepreneurs therefore creating jobs – the industry doesn’t want to export jobs by exporting the finished leather, stated Kelebogile. Launched last month, the venture is housed at the LEA leather incubator in Gaborone, where two factory shells have been set aside.
LEA is working on the production of leather gloves with the intention of having the capacity and skills to make leather gloves because there is an available market locally from different mines. Botswana Chamber of Mines (BCM), is associated with this project because of market access, lobbying, and advocating for the market. All mines use leather gloves but unfortunately, they are all imported; there is an opportunity for our enterprises to produce locally for the mines, stressed Kelebogile, indicating 200, 000 pairs of gloves are consumed by the mines alone every year. When including other sectors which use these gloves, that takes to 600, 000 in demand.
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LEA was established to assist SMMEs but the trend was that fewer efforts were directed to our informal people, they were not supported in funding or places of operation, and they were hustling for themselves. Other projects LEA is currently working on include: building the Selebi Phikwe market stalls, which will house informal sector traders, improving Ledumang Car Wash (installing Wi-Fi and building vendor stalls within the car wash) and Ghanzi Small Stock Incubator, which groups ten small stock farmers to commercialize their farming.
