With the recent G8 summit held in London, Africa has once again come to the forefront of political and economic discussion. However, far from jumping on the bandwagon, it seems that University College Northampton was somewhat of a forerunner in seeing the potential that the continent holds and forging links to assist industry in its future development.
The College has already held talks with the Ethiopian Ambassador in London, in order to look into ways of forging links with the Ethiopian leather industry to contribute something towards the development of the industry in Ethiopia.
Ambassador Fisseha Adugna held met with the University College’s British School of Leather Technology late last year to assess the opportunities for a partnership in teaching the skills of leather manufacture and tanning to Ethiopians with a view to accelerating economic regeneration in the country.
As Ethiopia’s second largest external income earner, leather production plays a pivotal role in the country’s economy. Leather is a natural resource and as Ethiopia stands as the world’s largest producer of hairsheep – the source of the most valuable leather available - this could well be one area in which regeneration could really be nurtured. However, development is needed to train Ethiopians to build an infrastructure to be able to process the leather domestically rather than exporting the raw hides. This is where the University College of Northampton hopes to play an integral part in the development of the industry, by offering the expertise and knowledge required.
