Leather industrialists meet in Senegal
Over 30 leather industrialists from six West African states attended a three-day meeting in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, earlier this month (March 2001), to find out more about the latest technologies for adding value to their products.
Organised by the Centre for the Development of Enterprises created under the ACP-EU Lome Convention, the meeting attracted leather professionals from the Francophone nations of Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. Representatives from the European Federation of Tanners, the Association of Italian tanners and the leather, shoe and leather bag technical centre of France were also present, to provide advice on international marketing techniques and the selection of appropriate technologies.
Africa’s hide and skin production is centred on the West African Sahelian countries, where vast quantities of meat are consumed. Nevertheless, the sector remains hamstrung by poor quality hides, sub-standard processing facilities and an inadequate number of professional bodies.
