EXPERTS from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) met in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Tuesday to discuss ways to promote the region's leather sector.

The two-day COMESA workshop on validation of regional leather value chain strategy brought together more than 100 participants, including United Nations officials, senior government officials, and industry practitioners from the 21-member economic bloc in a bid to transform the sector by adding value to leather and leather products.

In his opening remarks, Juma Mukhwana, principal secretary in the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, said in a speech read on his behalf by Nobby Macharia, director of agro-industries, that Kenya was fully committed to ensuring that the leather value chain is developed to maximize benefits to the COMESA region.

"The leather sector is one of the anchors of the COMESA industrialization strategy," Macharia said.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Kenya exported an estimated 2.2 billion shillings (about $17.06 million) worth of leather products in 2023.

Nicholas Mudungwe, executive director of COMESA's Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute, said the trading bloc cumulatively produces about $3 billion worth of leather products annually, while importing another 2 billion dollars from the rest of the world.

Mudungwe noted that increased investment in adding value to raw leather could generate more than $30 billion annually for the trading bloc.

Bereket Alemayehu, a trade policy expert at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said COMESA countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia can leverage their large cattle population to become regional hubs for the export of leather products.

He added that capacity building of value chain players can help enhance the quality and productivity of the leather sector, leading to enhanced earnings from the industry.