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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the Nigerian leather industry has the potential of not only increasing its earnings by 70 per cent but also generating over $1 billion by 2025.
Osinbajo who ascribed the data to a study conducted by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), said with the right planning and strategy, optimising the value chain, these goals could become reality soon.
He stated this at the launch and sensitisation workshop on the National Leather and Leather Products Policy Implementation Plan in Abuja, yesterday, saying the projected income by NESG would be a game changer for the leather industry.
“There is no question that properly organised the leather and leather products industry could become one of the major items in Nigeria’s export basket. The leather value chain is extensive. It includes animal husbandry, tanneries, finished leather products, and leather products marketing. The leather and leather products industry currently employs over 750,000 workers with about 500,000 workers in the finished leather goods sector. About 11 leather exporting companies have been active at the upstream end of the leather value chain. Also, the export of leather has grown steadily, reaching a peak of $117 million in 2018. Exports fell in 2020 largely due to the pandemic, but to date, are in the order of $272 million.”
Osinbajo expressed disappointment that the country was yet to maximise its potential in the sector despite exporting millions of semi-finished and finished leather products to destinations including Italy, Spain, India, China and South Asia.
