Modernising (in a technological/productive sense) tanneries to provide customers with the finest quality finished leather. It is the exhortation addressed by the members of ZimTrade, the Zimbabwe export promotion body, to the tanners of the country. The organisation’s goal is to re-launch the sector in collaboration with PUM Netherlands, a volunteer organisation committed to the sustainable development of small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries. ZimTrade has organised a workshop on the leather supply chain that will take place in Bulawayo. Among theparticipants: STAHL, Mendelson & Frost, the Solidaridad network, IM-Innovating of Netherlands and Mimosa Extracting Company. ZimTrade’s concern is based on numbers. Today the tanning industry in Zimbabwe employs around a thousand people, but once there were over 5,600 and, according to Leather Sector Strategy, between 2010 and 2017 exports of leather from the country decreased compared to the previous decade, getting to 17.6 million dollars a year. Focusing attention on the last seven years, however, the trend shows an increase: in 2010 Zimbabwe exported 18.6 million dollars (16.6 million euros) of leathers and products, while in 2018 the figure had risen to 36,9 million (33 million euros), of which about 34 million (30.4 in euros) given by raw materials.
Zimbabwe, appeal to tanners: “Modernize your companies”
