Construction of the multi-billion shillings leather industrial park in Machakos County is expected to be completed in September 2020.
The park is expected to house processors and manufacturers of various leather products. Investment and Industry Principal Secretary Betty Maina says the government is in talks with various investors from China and India who are exploring investment opportunities in the leather park.
The 500 acres leather park is expected to help create 35,000 jobs once it’s fully developed by the year 2025.
So far the government is constructing sewer lines, and an affluent treatment system that will help in the recycling waste water at the leather park.
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Once completed it is expected to help position Kenya as a leather processing and manufacturing hub in the region, a title currently held by Ethiopia.
Speaking during a meeting with leather investors from India, the Principal Secretary said the government will offer tax incentives to investors in the park as well as preferential treatment.
Investors attending the meeting urged the government to address the issues of production saying the cost of labor and transport is still high compared to neighbors Ethiopia and Uganda.
India’s leather industry is the second biggest in the world after China and its valued at 1.8 trillion shillings.
According to the Kenya Leather Council, over 90 per cent of Kenya’s 9.4 billion shillings leather exports are unfinished wet blue leather, denying the country billion shillings in value addition.