National Competitiveness Commission on Leather Value Chain
Competitiveness Report to Improve Value Addition
Philip Phiri, the Executive Director of NCC, emphasized the importance of achieving the National Development Strategy One (NDS1) objective of developing the value chain and cooperation towards a similar goal. He commended the report’s robust process that included input from relevant stakeholders in the value chain, including banking associations, ministries, and individual players in the economy.
Value Chain Report
In continuation, this was revealed during the launch of the Leather Value Chain Competitiveness Report. The National Competitiveness Commission (NCC) launched the Data Value Chain Competitiveness Report at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) on the 23rd of May 2023. With the aim of improving the value chain development for Zimbabwe’s local economies.
Recognizing Value Chain
“The government recognizes the importance of the value chain in terms of its contribution to valuation, export earnings under the NDS1. There are targets that have been identified in the sector,” said Phiri.
The report identifies targets under the National Development Strategy 1 to increase capacity utilization of value-added products manufacturing from 30% to 50% by 2025 and increase the export of products from 10% to 25%. These value chain competitiveness efforts will complement the Zimbabwe Leather Sector Strategy and produce relevant skills benefitting the economy.
Below Expectations
“The sector produced 17 million pairs of shoes and exported about 6 million. The sector is now producing around a million which is way below its exports,” Phiri revealed.”
He added, “It is therefore important to note that implementation of the strategies enshrined in this report will go a long way in addressing existing challenges in the labour value chain.”
The Need for Collaboration
Additionally, nn his speech, the representative of the Ministry of SMEs, Billiat Chaderopa, acknowledged the challenges and emphasized the need for collaborative efforts from government departments and the private sector to resolve issues.
Thusly, he revealed that the Ministry has responded to some challenges by initiating programs such as the Plus Development program, which offers training, equipment, and assistance to SMEs in business management, technical skills training, and export marketing.
Providing Direction
Moreover, the Zimbabwe leather sector strategy was launched in 2012 to 2017, followed by the current 2021 to 2022 strategy aimed at providing direction to the sector. Hence, the value chain competitiveness efforts aim to complement this package, and benchmarking increases the exchange of information for the labour sector, which is critical going forward.
Lastly, the launch of the Leather Value Chain Competitiveness Report was attended by various stakeholders, including academia, banks, and industry players. The government pledged to work closely with all partners to overcome challenges in the leather sector and promote economic growth in Zimbabwe.
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