How Africa is fighting for share of $260B leather goods market

Yolanda Odida is the founder of Pure Purple, a Nairobi-based fashion house manufacturing a variety of leather products such as bags, belts, wallets and shoes.

She is among many exhibitors at this year’s Real Leather Stay Different exhibition. Just like any other leather goods manufacturer in Africa, she is a cutthroat competition, not only with household fashion brands from Europe and North America, but also with fast fashion companies from Asia which have flooded Africa with cheap synthetic leather products.

However as a small and medium enterprise in the slow fashion business, Yolanda seems unmoved as Pure Purple fights for share of the $260 billon leather goods market and which is projected to top $405 billon by 2030.

Yolanda Odida, CEO Pure Purple.

“I really don’t try to compete with fast fashion. They’ll beat us in prices, they beat us in how many products there iterating and you know that those products are fast because they don’t last. So I don’t even worry about that. The customer profile of who’s buying the fast fashion and the one buying us is quite different or they are the same one but they know,” she says.

Pure Purple leather products. PHOTO | Ronald Owili

Nonetheless, to compete at the global stage with household names such as Gucci, Armani or Dior, Africa’s SMEs in the manufacture of leather goods, footwear and garments are being challenged to embrace creative designs that are appealing to consumers, both locally and internationally.

PHOTO | Ronald Owili

The Real Leather Stay Different campaign which is backed by the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA) and African Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) seeks to provide a platform where fashion brands like Pure Purple from Kenya and other Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) countries can share industry best practices in order to increase sales.

“This is very important for us because it is a platform where our SMEs will be able to interact with other players coming from other countries and they will be able to see their level of skills and also quality with regards to their products as they compare the products that are coming from other players and also what they have brought here,” says Preston Viswamo, Regional Design Studio Project Manager, ALLPI.

Viswamo, Regional Design Studio Project Manager, ALLPI.

According to Viswamo, the institute is seeking to promote the growth of African leather industry by providing skills to SMEs, from processing leather to product design and manufacturing.

This will ensure the continent reduces export of raw hides and skins, increase production of leather goods and enhance intra-trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA).

“As much as we want to export to Europe and America, the biggest market is in Africa. This is why as entrepreneurs in Africa we have to maximize the market potential we have in Africa before we even we start with outside. We are glad the African Union and ACFTA regime that is there want to see how we can encourage intra-trade and the market is very big,” he adds.

The Real Leather Stay Different Expo.

Ruth Girmay is the General Manager for Shamrock Leather and the winner of Real Leather Stay Different competition held last year. Though excited about the opening of the African market which makes it possible for her creations to be sold in fashion stores in Nairobi, Cape Town or Cairo, she says more still need to be done to ensure the industry is competitive.

“We have many talented designers in Africa but our problem is the accessories are very expensive. Accessories are imported so because of accessories and lack of training, we cannot compete with internationally. If we get training and accessories we can compete with international brands,” says Girmay.

Ruth Girmay is the General Manager for Shamrock Leather, Ethiopa.

The continent will also have to invest in tanneries that will produce more hides and skins to be used by local designers.

According to SME Blue Pages, Africa accounts for 6pc of leather and leather exports globally valued at around $3.5 billion lead by South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Ethiopia.

“We are currently doing a lot of export of semi processed leather. We get our hides and skins, we semi process them basically cleaning them up and once they are just clean enough to export we pack them un containers and export to various countries that add value,” says Beatrice Mwasi, Managing Director of Centre for Business Innovation and Training (CBIT) which is the coordinator of the event.

Beatrice Mwasi, Managing Director of Centre for Business Innovation and Training (CBIT).”These are the countries that again bring back the product to us in finished form. So if African can enhance its capability to be able to add value to the leather that we have, then we will start growing our market share,” she affirms.

The Real Leather Stay Different campaign will similarly hold a competition where 15 designers will be selected to compete in footwear, leather products and garments categories.

After a review by a panel of judges, five winners which include one from each category, people’s choice and overall winner will then be announced.

The winners will get a cash prize of $5000 as well as get a chance to showcase their products at various platforms worldwide.