Proposed leather park to generate thousands of jobs

At least 50,000 jobs will be created at Kenya Leather Park once the facility becomes operational early next year, the Kenya Leather Development Council (KLDC) has said.

KLDC Chief Executive Officer Dr Issack Noor said the facility, christened Ngozi, currently under construction in Machakos County’s Kinanie area is expected to be opened by early next year to both local and international investors involved in the leather processing business.

“The Park is expected to be investor ready with the necessary equipment and infrastructure where investors will just plug and play as they commence operations,” said Noor.

The leather sector in Kenya is estimated to be over Sh50 billion annually. Mr Noor regretted that exporting raw hides and skins had denied the country billions of shillings in direct earnings and lost thousands of job opportunities.

“Over 90 per cent of Kenya’s $94 million (Sh9.4 billion) leather exports are unfinished wet blue leather, but further processing will create at least 50,000 jobs and $150-250 million (Sh15-25 billion) in GDP,” he explained.