By Peter Ochieng
Very soon, Kenyan will stop importing shoes, President William Ruto has announced.
The Head of State, speaking during the 61st Madaraka Day celebrations at Masinde Muliro Stadium in Kanduyi on Saturday, we will be wearing our own shoes, made in the country using our own leather.
“I have made this commitment, that shortly we will not be importing shoes from anywhere. We will be wearing our own shoes; made in Kenya, using our own leather,” he stated.
“We are invested in developing our leather sub-sector to support competitive export industries supporting many thriving enterprises and households. In this connection, we have committed to implement strategies aimed at increasing incomes from Sh15 billion to Sh120 billion a year, multiplying job opportunities from 17,000 to 100,000 and raising annual footwear production from the current 8 million to 36 million pairs worth Sh72 billion by 2027,” the President said.
He said the country is on the path of transforming the leather value chain from one driven by exports of raw material and semi-processed products, to a sophisticated industry manufacturing internationally competitive finished leather and leather products, “thus mopping up to 3 million hides and 18 million skins produced each year.”
He subsequently pledged financial commitments aimed at enhancing the leather sub-sector. They include the allocation of Sh400 million for the upgrade of the Ewaso Ng’iro South Development Authority’s leather factory.
He noted that the whole idea stems from developing local capacity to handle hides and skins, to provide quality raw material, tanning as well as the local manufacturing of finished leather goods such as shoes, bags, and belts.
In addition, the Head of State said that they are developing and integrating a farmers’ and agri-preneurs database into the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Information System.
“As we speak, the database already has 6.4 million registered farmers, and our aim is to serve them better by improving access, sharing and utilization of information in the agricultural sector.”