How Nigeria Can Generate $1bn From Leather – NESG

Nigeria, recognised as among Africa’s leading leather and finished leather product manufacturers, possesses the capacity to generate approximately $1 billion in 2025, according to a Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) analysis.

The comprehensive leather value chain in Nigeria, with Kano in the Northwest serving as the primary hub, encompasses animal husbandry, tanneries, finished leather manufacturing, and leather product marketing, the report indicated.

This analysis, compiled by experts including Gimba C.G., Alogala J.A, Okeoma O, Ejila D.A, Salawu A.O, and Afuwai, W.G., titled ‘Impact of Leather Products in Nigerian Economic Growth and Business development’ and reviewed by BusinessDay, recommends renewed Federal Government attention to this sector.

Kano’s reputation extends beyond its festivals, historical artefacts, and cultural heritage to include its status as a leading Nigerian leather manufacturer and exporter, establishing it as the nation’s largest commercial leather industry centre.

Kano’s traditional tanneries represent Nigeria’s oldest facilities, drawing large-scale local leather suppliers from neighbouring Niger Republic, Chad, and Cameroon, along with other Sahel region countries.

These Kano tanneries serve as the initial stage in the leather production value chain, receiving hides and skins from slaughtered animals and processing them through tanning procedures to create leather.

“The leather and leather products industry currently employs over 750,000 workers, with about 500,000 workers in the finished leather goods sector. “About eleven leather exporting companies have been active at the upstream end of the leather value chain; together, these companies generate about 8000 jobs.

“To date, however, exports are in the order of 272 million dollars; Nigeria’s semi-finished and finished leather have their highest patronage in Italy, Spain, India, South Asia and China, where it is being used in the production of Shoes, Belts, Bags, and folders that are largely traded in West Africa and many parts of Africa.

“The famous Aba shoe cluster in Abia, informally exports almost a million pairs of shoes weekly, mostly to destinations within Africa”, the report highlighted.

The report’s experts observed that Nigeria’s leather industry demonstrates enormous scale with limitless potential, concluding that proper organisation could establish the leather and leather products sector as a major component of Nigeria’s export portfolio.

“One reason behind the industry’s weak growth is disintegration in the local value chain. Shoemakers say sourcing for leather locally is a gruelling feat as a lot of the leather produced locally – at tanneries in Kano and Kaduna -is exported to foreign countries.

“A flaw in the value chain suggests Nigeria has an underproduction problem, when compared to Vietnam, with a population of 96 million, and an annual production capacity of 760 million pairs, while Nigeria, on the other hand, produces 48 million shoes from its local production epi-centre- Aba, which houses the largest shoe clusters in Nigeria.

“Nigerian shoemakers and other leatherwork producers say they have been unable to produce the desired quantity of FLPs that would spur the sector into a self-sustainable or globally relevant one. Other shoe and bag makers in the country have blamed their inability to grow as a result of unfavourable policies and a lack of support from the government.

“Only a few shoe factories continue to operate and are barely surviving through government contracts to supply leather shoes to the Army, Police Force, and the Ministry of Defence. Most of these shoemakers make use of old machinery and mundane methods to sustain their production capacity. This affects their ability to scale and increase their production capacity efficiently”, the experts further noted in the report.

Nigerian manual production achieves a maximum of 120 shoes daily, contrasting with Ethiopia’s recently launched shoe manufacturing facility that produces 10,000 shoes daily.

Nigeria previously hosted numerous leather tanneries, including Harmattan Tannery, Kapital Tannery, Mario-Jose Enterprises, Globus Tannery, Challawa Tannery, Kano Tannery, KTL Tannery, and Tannorth Tannery, all located in Kano, plus Deras Tannery.

Additional companies included Multitan Limited, Great Northern Tannery, International Tannery, Gashhash Tannery, Arewa Tannery in Kano, Danzami Tannery in Katsina, Ajaji Tanneries in Lagos, and Limson Tanneries in Lagos. Nearly all these facilities have ceased operations.