Government to boost leather industry

Jul 17, 2015

Cabinet has approved the National Leather and Leather Products Policy, 2015 intended to guide efforts to transform Uganda’s leather industry into a dynamic and competitive subsector.


By Taddeo Bwambale

Cabinet has approved the National Leather and Leather Products Policy, 2015 intended to guide efforts to transform Uganda’s leather industry into a dynamic and competitive subsector.

Information and national guidance minister, Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi announced on Thursday that the policy would guarantee support to the sector to produce high-value products.

Muhwezi said government support to the leather subsector was based on immense opportunity to provide high foreign exchange earnings and attraction of foreign investments.

According to the minister, the education ministry will be tasked to support institutions that make leather shoes locally and support the distribution chain for the locally made shoes.

Muhwezi said Uganda would follow countries such as India and Ethiopia that have grown their leather industries to invest along the value chain and created employment opportunities.

“Its value chain is bigger than the combined trade of meat, coffee, tea, sugar and rubber,” Muhwezi said of the largely untapped resource at a weekly briefing on Cabinet resolutions.

Some of the finished leather products include footwear, bags, upholstery, belts, wallets, and accessories used in textile industries.

The surge in demand for leather products has seen an increase in the number of tanneries from four in 2010 to seven in 2014.

Among policy interventions to support the sector, Government banned the export of raw materials hides and skins and taxes imports to boost domestic production. 

Muhwezi also disclosed that Cabinet had also approved a new policy that will compel all institutions of government to consult citizens in the design of development projects.

The National Community Development Policy, 2015 is intended to help improve citizen participation in Uganda’s development process.

“We want communities to realize that they are central players in the development process. Uganda’s communities should not be passive watchers or recipients of development ideas, projects and charity,” Muhwezi said.

Muhwezi said the new policy was aligned to Uganda’s National Vision 2040 that seeks to transform Uganda to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years.

Under the new Policy, communities will be closely co-opted in identifying their priority needs, as well as designing and implementing the appropriate project s, Muhwezi said.

“Government realizes that communities often know a lot about the origin, nature, extent and impact of the development challenges they face,” he explained.

The policy will focus on improving social services, household incomes and standards, of living, in the areas of infrastructure, health, education and agri-business.

Fred Gume Ngobi, the President of the Uganda Local Government Association hailed the new policy saying it will inspire communities to own government projects.

“Consulting citizens is a meaningful aspect of decentralisation that allows people to own the government projects,” Gume said in an interview with New Vision.

He said Uganda, one of the first African countries to introduce devolution, has pioneered community consultations through budget meetings and ‘Bimeeza (town hall meetings).

Muhwezi said the policy would be translated into measurable activities and integrated in work-plans of ministries, departments, agencies and local governments effective this year.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});