Federal Government will soon enforce a total ban on export of leather, Director General, Nigerian Institute of Leather Science and Technology (NILEST), Prof. Mohammed Yakubu, has said.
Yakubu stated this in Abuja, yesterday, at the graduation of 165 persons trained in footwear manufacturing and leather goods processing/production.
The Director General noted that the leather subsector recorded over $800 million revenue for the country in 2009.
He said with implementation of the National Leather and Leather Products Policy, Nigeria could account for up to 10 per sent of the world’s total trade in the sector.
He said: “The target of the policy is to net in just two per cent by 2025. On account of the downturn in world economy because of the pandemic, Nigeria made only $220 million in 2020.
“The idea of the training is to develop the capacities of Nigerians in the arts, science, technology, innovation and marketing of leather and leather products, so that in a very near future, when total ban on the export of leather is enforced, Nigerians would have mastered the skills to process leather raw materials to finished goods for export.”
Speaking at the occasion, Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, Mohammed Abdullahi, said the leather industry is one of the vibrant sectors in the national economy, contributing enormously to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said: “The market share of the Nigerian manufacturers in recent times has increased by 10 per cent Leather and leather products’ transactions were estimated to have increased in excess of N450 billion for footwear and N200 billion for other finished leather products.”
He, however, lamented that 90 per cent of the benefits go to foreign countries, while only 10 per cent go into domestic accounts.
He said the ministry, through NILEST, is making frantic efforts to reverse the huge capital flight by putting together the first stand-alone National Leather and Leather Products Policy in Nigeria.
