Government must step in if Kenya’s new leather park is to succeed
23/11/2016
In mid-November, companies interested in helping the government build the facility were invited to submit bids for the work. The proposed industrial park will house 15 tanneries, a common effluent treatment plant and a number of finished product manufacturers, whose goods will be on sale at the site to local people and to tourists.
However, the president of the Tanners’ Association of Kenya, Robert Njoka, has now said that the idea is unlikely to be a success unless the government clamps down on imports of much cheaper leathergoods and shoes from outside Kenya and on exports of Kenyan hides and skins.
Mr Njoka said there are 14 tanneries operating in Kenya at the moment, but that they are running at 40% capacity because of what he called a lack of reliable supply of raw materials. He pointed out that having a high export tariff on hides and skins (reported to be 80%) is one thing, but that the government now needs to implement this policy fully to stop hides and skins leaving the country cheaply.
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