FG to revive tanneries

The federal government has reiterated its commitment to resuscitating dormant tanneries in the country to attract capital into the nation’s economy.

The Minister of State for Industry, Trade, and Investment, Ambassador Mariam Yalwaji Katagum, during a meeting with the National Steering Committee (NSC) on the implementation of the National Leather and Leather Products Policy yesterday in Abuja, said only 18 out of 40 tanneries that were operational in 2000 were still in operation, with a total installed capacity for processing 250,000 skins per day.

In a statement by NSC’s Assistant Director of Information for Press and Public Relations, Oluwakemi Ogunmakinwa, Katagum said that the ministry had decided to start the machinery needed to revive the non-operational tanneries and draw more capital into the sector.

She said so far, its interventions in the leather sub-sector had been limited to capital allowance on plant machinery, issuance of certificates under the backward integration programme and provision of common facilities to MSME operators to facilitate and strengthen expansion.

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She added that the revival would be through the agencies it was supervising.

The Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST) and Chairman of NSC, Prof. Mohammed Kabir Yakubu, said the leather sector played a strategic role in the country’s economic growth due to its high export earnings, job creation potential and higher returns.

He noted that despite the leather industry’s significance to the national economy, it had faced difficulties that had resulted in a decline in its contribution to national GDP and a protracted lack of sector-specific policies.