Africa Leather and Leather Products institute (ALLPI) with the Government of Rwanda Ministry of Trade and Industry (MiNICOM) conducted a one day workshop on “Enhancing market access and local sourcing for Leather Enterprises” to selected Leather players from Kigali on 10th August 2023 at Masaka Vocational Training Institute, Kigali.
The overall objective of the program is to give information regarding the supplier of input and main institutional buyers along the leather value chain to in hence the marketing activities of Leather players domestically as well as globally. The Training is the continuation of the training on TOT Leather Footwear & Goods Design Craftsmanship & Expert Readiness held on April, 2022.
The one day workshop was conducted based on the field visit arranged with different input suppliers along the LVC and institutional buyers during 7th -9th August 2023 in Kigali. The detail activities were:
- Collect data on Chemical, finished leather, accessories and components importers and institutional buyers of finished leather products,
- Organize meeting between importers of raw materials and leather manufacturers along the LVC and
- Train SME’s on how to approach potential institutional buyers and input output linkage for production and marketing enhancement.
During the workshop the opening remark was addressed by ALLPI’s Ag. ED and program Coordinator Mr. Ghebregziabher Ghebremedhin and he addressed the importance of this session to enhance production and marketing Linkages and ALLPI’s activity towards Cluster development to enhance SME’s competitiveness. Mr. Mugabe Fred the Industrial Promotion Specialist at MINICOM also addressed the welcome speech on behalf of the Ministry and the Rwanda TVET Board and the Kigali Leather Cluster officials and Rwanda TVET Board was also part of the opening and Training session.
During the workshop the presentation was delivered by ALLPI’s Investment, Trade and Marketing expert Mrs. Birkinesh Gonfa based on the field work conducted to identify potential suppliers of input and potential buyers. Also the presentation on “Approaching Potential Buyers and customer expectations in the case of leather and leather products market” was conducted in line with the objective of the workshop.
During the opening session of the workshop the participants talked about their business environment enhancement after the TOT training conducted during April 2022.
The Africa business directory website developed by ALLPI to support Leather business actors to Search information regarding input output linkages, to register themselves and promote their products and updated their company information based on the updated company history was also communicated to the participants for their continuous use.. The representative from the Rwanda Standard Board (RSB) also presented the importance of standards for competitiveness and the situation of Leather value chain standards in Rwanda to the participants.
At the conclusion session of the workshop ALLPI’s Ag. ED and program’s coordinator expressed his happiness by discussion and feedback from the participants and addressed ALLPI’s readiness to continue supporting Africa leather sector in general and Rwanda in particular.