(3 minutes read)
· Kenya’s industrial leather park in Machakos is getting ready and it will come on stream by the end of this year
· The park which will have export processing zone status can add considerable value to leather, which can increase the country’s export of skins and hides
· Official figures point out that leather export value dropped to Sh2.95 billion in 2019 from Sh4.42 billion in 2018
Kenya’s industrial leather park in Machakos is getting ready and it will come on stream by the end of this year. The park which will have export processing zone status can add considerable value to leather, which can increase the country’s export of skins and hides.
Acting Director at the Kenya’s Directorate of Agro–Industries under the Trade and Industrialization ministry Simon Atebe had a meeting with buyers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Egypt. Located on a 500-acre land, the park will be a one-stop shop for leather, leather goods and related industries, including tanneries. A tannery requires a large quantum of water, power and an effluent treatment plant to operate optimally. The common effluent treatment plant is the biggest incentive to investors at the park. The plant could have been commissioned earlier, but has been delayed due to slow progress in setting up the effluent treatment plant.
Kenya exports semi-processed leather commonly known as wet-blue, which can fetch only low revenue abroad. However, with the export of leather products, value realization will be more. There is considerable smuggling of raw hides and skins and an influx of illicit leather in the market. Official figures point out that leather export value dropped to Sh2.95 billion in 2019 from Sh4.42 billion in 2018.
