Creating a leather cluster in Bugesera Special Economic Zone in Rwanda’s border with Burundi. Making the announcement, reported by NewTimes.co.rw, is Fred Mugabe (director general of promotion of industry and business development at the Ministry of Trade and Industry). The project is aligned with what was already initiated in 2021, as the Rwandan government aimed to develop this area of the country, where there is already a tannery, close to waterways and Lake Rweru. The goal: to reduce imports of tanned hides and boost the leather sector. Rwanda is trying again, but will it succeed, this time, in following through on plans to create a leather cluster?
In Rwanda, they are trying again
Investors were scarce at the time, while today the site of interest has already been identified and a business plans drawn up. The facilities, however, require $15.1 million, and Rwandan diplomats are working to find investors. “We are also working with the African Development Bank (AfDB) – Fred Mugabe says -. The institution has agreed to fund larger feasibility studies for the park, needed to validate the engineering and strategic requirements for potential funding sources”.
More tanned leather
The establishment of the tanning park in Bugesera should represent the first step to increase the availability of tanned leather to reduce imports from China and East Africa, particularly Kenya and Uganda. Today, as Junis Mukanyandwi, a Rwandan leather goods manufacturer, says, “We rely on imports because it is the only way to access different types of leather. Most of the tanned leather comes from Kenya, while other materials come from China. Although there is a tannery in Bugesera, prices are higher and the local market does not always offer the varieties or quality we need, depending on the type of shoes we want to produce”.
