Nairobi, 15th July, 2021
Nairobi City County Executive Committee Member for Commerce, Tourism and Cooperatives, Ms. Winfred Gathagu officiated during the handing over of Kariokor Common Leather Manufacturing Facility project to Kenya Leather Development Council for machines installation.
Ms. Gathagu said that it was one of the flagship projects in the Vision 2030 which is to create a globally competitive and prosperous country, with a high quality of life by 2030. It also aimed to transform Kenya into a newly-industrializing, middle income country providing high quality of life to all its’ citizens in a clean and secure environment.
The vision has earmarked manufacturing as one of the strategic areas for development, leather development being one of the flagship projects
Said Ms. Gathangu “H.E Ann Kananu, the Deputy Governor and acting Governor, is very keen on ensuring SMEs and the youth are fully supported, especially during the lingering Covid 19 pandemic where most businesses have shut down or people have lost jobs. The Objective of this project is therefore to support Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) engaged in the production of leather goods with an environmentally friendly premises installed with modern technology equipment to help them produce standardized goods that are competitive locally, regionally and ultimately globally.”
The expected impact of the project will be poverty alleviation and wealth creation, and for posterity.
The project was initiated in 2016 by Ministry of Industry, Trade and Enterprise Development (MITED) and Kenya Leather Development Council, a state agency, in collaboration with the Nairobi City County Government; Commerce, Tourism & Cooperatives Sector.
Said Ms. Gathangu “H.E Ann Kananu is fully in support of the realization of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big 4 agenda with regards to manufacturing, The framework established towards achieving the National Development Blue print, the Vision 2030.”
Ms. Gathagu said the Kariokor Common Leather Manufacturing Facility is a pilot project in leather goods production, that is expected to be benchmarked by other counties in the country. “Its success is paramount and H.E Ann Kananu has given her full support and using multi-sectoral approach towards seamless project output.”
Present was the Chief Executive Officer Kenya Leather Development Council, Dr. Isaack M. Noor.
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