With the aim of encouraging international partnerships, the Nigerian Institute of Leather Science and Technology (NILEST), Zaria, has expanded its lobbying campaign on the national leather policy to the Portuguese leather industry.
On Monday in Abuja, Director-General of the Institute, Prof. Mohammad Yakubu, stated to the news media that the advocacy trip was made to actualise the implementation of Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo’s policies.
“Our recent trip to Centro Technology Do Calcado De Portugal (CTCP) was also to build a network of both nations’ key players in the leather sector, covering policymakers, operators, and financiers,’’ he said.
According to Yakubu, NILEST determined it was necessary to research the Portuguese leather sector in order to gain knowledge of its regulations, practises, industry dynamics, and technology.
“To understand how they were able to grow the industry from an artisanal level to a modern and sophisticated industry,
“To identify how we can attract them to set up manufacturing outfits in Nigeria;’’ he said.
He claims that the institute also thought it was critical to comprehend the financing policies for the Portuguese shoe sector and how to develop low-cost, high-quality production abilities.
“We also want to collaborate with the Portuguese leather sector to become a major player in the global leather,’’ Yakubu said.
With 120 leather goods enterprises, Portugal is the second-best producer of leather goods in the world, behind Italy.
“Portugal’s leather industry is driven by small businesses. In 2010, exports of the industry increased by 25%, and 29% increased in 2020, with 197 million euros,” he said.
Yakubu said the Portuguese leather industry provided 48 per cent growth in the number of jobs over the past decade.
“In the first half of 2021, the sector reported a growth of 21.4%, equivalent to 84 million pairs of shoes, with Spain, France, Turkey and US as major foreign buyers of Portuguese leather products,’’ the DG said.
The institute decided to work with CTCP on R&D, ISO Certified Laboratory, exchange programme, and collaborations between Portuguese and Nigerian leather associations/entrepreneurs in order to consolidate the benefits from the study trip and add value to the activities of NILEST and the Nigeria Leather Sector.
The joint development of academic programmes, research into the plentiful leather raw materials in Nigeria, improvement of the leather value chain, the export market, funding, and partnerships are some other topics.
