Ethiopia sets optimistic targets
Buoyed by a sharp rise in revenue in the leather industry during the last fiscal year (see www.leatherbiz.com January 28, 2008) Ethiopia is confident of achieving significant growth in both its leather and footwear sectors by 2010.
According to local reports, the government hopes to achieve a massive 12% increase in the production of leather industry by 2010, making it the second fastest growing sector after the service industry.
Much of this expansion in the leather industry will be achieved through the establishment of new processing facilities to meet demand from the expanding footwear sector, which is set to more than double its production capacity by the end of this fiscal year alone. Speaking to local media, Minister of Trade and Industry Girma Biru said that the government hopes to increase footwear production to 50,000 pairs per day this year, from the 24,000 pairs it currently produces, with the aim of achieving levels of 60,000 or 70,000 pairs per day by 2010.
