The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is aiming to boost its annual earnings from the leather sector to $30 billion, according to Nicholas Mudungwe, executive director of the bloc's Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute.

Currently, the trading bloc produces approximately $3 billion worth of leather products each year while importing an additional $2 billion from the rest of the world.

Mr Mudungwe highlighted that increased investment in value addition to raw leather could significantly raise the sector's contribution to the region's economy, with potential earnings exceeding $30 billion annually.

Bereket Alemayehu, a trade policy expert at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, emphasised that COMESA countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia could leverage their large cattle populations to become regional hubs for leather product exports.

He added that building the capacity of value chain players is crucial to enhancing the quality and productivity of the leather sector, which would in turn increase industry earnings.

The discussion took place during a two-day COMESA workshop on the validation of the regional leather value chain strategy, held in Nairobi.

The event brought together over 100 participants, including United Nations officials, senior government representatives, and industry practitioners from the 21-member economic bloc.

The goal of the workshop was to explore ways to transform the leather sector by adding value to leather and leather products.

In his opening remarks, Juma Mukhwana, principal secretary in Kenya's Ministry of Investments, Trade, and Industry, reaffirmed the country's commitment to developing the leather value chain to maximise benefits for the COMESA region.