Tracing the leather industry journey

As Zambia celebrates 62 years of independence, it is timely and symbolic to reflect on the journey of the leather industry, a sector that speaks directly to the national aspiration for true economic independence.

In the years following independence, and for decades after, Zambia’s leather sector remained at the periphery of industrial development.

Despite having one of the highest livestock populations in the region, with the livestock sector contributing over 3.3 per cent to gross domestic product (GDP), the country was predominantly an exporter of raw hides and skins.

Kasem Travise Enterprises Limited founder and managing director Kasonde Mwamba, operating under the Zambia Leather Industries Association (ZALIA), says the value-chain was broken and the country lost immense value through low prioritised challenges.

First, the rampant illegal export of raw hides and skins which deprived local tanneries of critical raw material. Second, poor quality of hides due to traditional branding practices, tick-borne diseases and poor animal husbandry, which significantly reduced their market value.

Third, very few functional tanneries, with most operating far below capacity or having closed completely. And fourth, a critical shortage of trained personnel – tanners, shoe designers, pattern makers and leather technicians.

Mr Mwamba says in essence, Zambia exported jobs, exported revenue and imported finished products.

“It was a classic colonial trade pattern that independence was meant to end. Today, I am pleased to say the narrative is fundamentally changing. This change has been driven by deliberate policy shifts and strategic partnerships,” he says.

With the launch of the Zambia Leather Value Chain Strategy, anchored within the Government’s 8th National Development Plan (8NDP), and with technical support from strategic partners like the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI), Zambia is making a decisive shift from being a raw material exporter to a competitive manufacturer of finished leather products.

Progress has been made on skills development, through ALLPI and the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development, with artisans being trained in modern footwear manufacturing, leather goods design and craftsmanship.

This is addressing the skills gap that crippled the industry for years.

He explains that under institutional strength, ZALIA is in place as the unified voice of the sector, is a critical vehicle to revive the industry, sustain the market, advance for policy reforms, and drive competitiveness to substitute imported leather products.

“This is our cry as leather producers, manufacturers – ZALIA and Government’s total support, both financially and institutionally, to facilitate manufacture of quality, standardising and

promoting the industry,” says Mr Mwamba.

He notes that the Government is promoting cluster development for SMEs which model allows small manufacturers to share common facilities, equipment and market linkages, thereby reducing production costs and improving quality and collective bargaining power.

Mr Mwamba whose company sells 600 shoes per month, also shares that access to finance, with a major breakthrough, is the recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ALLPI and Stanbic Bank Zambia to create dedicated SME financing for the leather value chain.

He says access to affordable working capital has been one of our biggest constraints, and this facility will enable tanneries and workshops to retool and scale.

Mr Mwamba further says under market expansion, growing market access through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) regional market, and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) regional market and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the leather sector is now positioned not just for the local market but for a continental market of 1.4 billion people.

The sector is now rightly recognised in the 8NDP as a quick-win, labour-intensive, high-impact industry with immense potential for employment creation, particularly for the youth and women, for rural development, and for inclusive growth.

For Aaron Mwape, who operates a shoe and repairs shop at Kabwata market in Lusaka, his constraint has been frequently operating below capacity due to limited access to capital, ageing machinery and competition from cheap synthetic imports.

Mr Mwape says smaller local enterprises have the capacity to produce custom safety boots, casual shoes and leather accessories.

He is hopeful that with partnerships, especially with financial institutions, the leather sector has the potential to contribute to true economic independence by adding value to what is produced.

Mr Mwape urges the government to domesticate the COMESA Council resolution on preferential procurement – making them the biggest buyer, prioritise locally manufactured leather products, especially for uniformed services, schools and public institutions.

“Let Zambia rise as a manufacturing centre for Africa, not just a supplier of raw materials,” he says.

The Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry has been driving the growth of Zambia’s leather sector through the Zambia Leather Value Chain Strategy to transition from exporting raw hides to manufacturing finished leather goods, and aims to build 20 footwear and leather SME clusters to improve hide and skin quality and encourage local processing.

This is done in partnership with COMESA, the ALLPI, and the ministry of SME Development to establish leather products manufacturing centres.

Zamleather, a subsidiary of Zambeef Products Plc, and the country’s largest tannery producer, processing roughly 144,000 hides annually exports wet-blue hides and produces leather goods under the Zamshu brand, with a capacity of 600 pairs a day.

These include industrial safety boots and the locally designed Choboli boots sourced primarily from bovine hides, sheep and goat skins as well as crocodile/wildlife skins.

With such potential from both large and small businesses, the leather sector aims to modernise value chains, build SME clusters, and reduce reliance on imported goods of tools and finished goods.

ZALIA remains fully committed to producing high-quality, competitive Zambian leather products for the country, the region and for export to the world.