Online Reporter
Judith Phiri, Zimpapers Business Hub
OVER fifty participants are set to attend the inaugural SADC Regional Leather Forum in Bulawayo on Tuesday, which seeks to boost industrialisation and regional trade in the leather value chain.
The event, hosted by Zimbabwe as SADC Chair, with support from the German government, aims to accelerate regional industrialisation by strengthening the leather value chain across SADC Member States.
The Forum brings together approximately 50 participants, including policymakers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers, development partners, and private sector representatives.
It will serve as a dynamic platform to facilitate policy and regulatory harmonisation, assess progress on the implementation of the SADC Leather Regional Model Policy Framework, and promote innovation, investment, and trade across borders.
On Wednesday, SADC, with support from the German Government, will also host a two-day Business-to-Business (B2B) Workshop, which will bring together key stakeholders in the leather industry to build strategic business linkages, foster innovation, and advance regional industrialisation.
The events come at a time when Comesa recently handed over Satellite Leather Design Studio equipment worth €150,000 to the Leather Institute of Zimbabwe (LIZ) in Bulawayo—a critical milestone for players in the industry.
Funded by the European Union through the EU Development Fund, the studio is expected to focus on the upper-value chain stratum and enhance higher downstream impact for all stakeholders in the wider leather industry.
The Design Studio is set to improve the competitiveness of leather products, assisting small and medium enterprises in the sector to access both regional and global markets.
In an interview, Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Permanent Secretary, Mr Paul Nyoni, said the SADC Regional Leather Forum and two-day Business-to-Business (B2B) Workshop were critical events that highlight the SADC region’s need to foster industrialisation across the leather sector value chain.
“The two key events that will be held here in Bulawayo are key to SADC’s regional economic development. Zimbabwe, which is one of the 16 SADC members and also a member of the 21-nation Comesa, is seized with revitalising the leather sector,” he said.
“The high-level engagements at these events will ensure SADC Member States come together to work on harmonising leather standards to boost the regional leather industry’s competitiveness and value addition.”
He said key leather sector raw materials (hides) were finding their way out of the borders illegally, and there was a need to address the bottlenecks urgently.
Mr Nyoni said there was also a need to move the region beyond raw material exports towards manufacturing and innovation.
