Tanzanian entrepreneur opens tannery
Entrepreneur and former politician Rostam Abdulrasul Aziz has opened what local media in Tanzania have called the biggest leather-processing facility in Africa.
The country’s president, Dr John Magufuli, formally opened ACE Leather Limited’s new facility in the Morogoro region of Tanzania on February 12.
Mr Aziz used the occasion to call on the president to ban the export of raw hides and skins from Tanzania. The president responded by saying he wanted to encourage hides and skins from the country’s 34 million head of cattle and 21 million head of goats to remain in Tanzania and for companies there to add value to the material.
He said a possible next step would be to increase the export tax on hides and skins from the current level of 80% to 100%.
ACE Leather aims to employ 600 people making finished leather by the end of 2021 and to increase this to 1,000 people in 2022.
