Expert laments poor performance of leather sector

19 Dec '09

1 min read

At a meeting of representatives from the leather industry, Professor Onwualu, DG of Raw Materials Research and Development (RMRDC) said, “The development of Nigeria's leather and leather products industry remains poor, despite the promotional policies of successive governments to ensure the survival and development of the sector.”

He said the performance of the sector has been declining steadily in the last few years, which has led to the closure of many enterprises leading to job losses in the thousands. Till a few years back, he said, the leather sector held a premier position in the industrial sector of Nigeria for its inherent strengths.

The development of the leather sector was led by the private sector in its pristine years and was also one of the highest foreign exchange earners in the country along with generating a very huge employment potential for the people of Nigeria.

He added by saying that like many other countries, Nigeria too concentrated on exports of raw or semi-finished raw materials, but had the potential to manufacture and ship value-added and finished leather products just like Brazil, China and Vietnam.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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