PS Ombundo, Mueke Tours Kariokor Leather Market

Principal Secretary in the State Department of Trade Alfred Ombudo and his Livestock counterpart Jonathan Mueke, on Monday made a tour to Kariokor market/ Leather Industry to see how government can help to increase the manufacturing of finished leather goods.

Leather is one of the value chain in the government under the bottom up transformation agenda.

The government is targeting to manufacture 40 million pairs of shoes every year from 8 million and this will help to create more jobs to Kenyans.

Finished leather good are shoes, wallet, bags, belts and jackets.
Principal Secretary State Department of Livestock Jonathan Mueke said that the government is targeting to increase jobs from 19,000 that are in leather industry to 100,000 jobs by 2027. Mueke urged leather goods manufacturers to invest in machinery and embrace technology to make more quality shoes which will attract customers. The use of machinery will help manufacturers produce large volumes which will increase jobs and supply our market, the schools uniform and the uniform forces e.g. army, police NYS and export to East Africa, continent and globally. Kenya has a capacity to manufacture quality shoes for export which will help foreign exchange and increase quality of life.
Markets for finished leather goods are there as indicated by Principal Secretary State Department of trade Afred Ombudo. Ombudo said that manufacturers and traders in Kariokor market have capacity to produce quality shoes but the market is not working well. He added that it is important to identify the market and ensure that all people working there can access raw materials, machinery at cheaper prices, which will be more benefit to entire community. The government will invest more in training , bulk purchasing of inputs so that traders can access quality inputs at the correct prices.
The government is working on a solution that combine an access market, improve production and improve sourcing of raw material. A product of good finished leather quality will help traders to get market easily. The country has a regional market within the East Africa Community, countries such as Congo Kinshasa and Boma and more many countries. There is a lot of opportunities in export and government is trying to ensure that they export more and more products where value have been added.
European Union- Kenya economic partnership has created a permanent quarter free access to European Union market. The European Union has about 27 countries with 14 trillion Euros market hence a larger market that Kenyans can benefit to get better market
Kenya Leather Development Cooperation( KLDC) is working with national and county governments to offer services to people working in Kariokor market. The interest of the government is to reduce challenges by proving machinery that is charging minimal, 5ksh and 10ksh. Kenya Leather Development Cooperation Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Nur, urged traders in Kariokor market to make use of the services which they asked from the government.