Shoe industry can generate N640 billion annually if Nigerians patronise locally made products, observes Ken Anyanwu, secretary, Association of Leather and Allied Industrialists of Nigeria (ALAIN).
Anyanwu, in an interview with BusinessDay in Aba, says that the Aba shoe cluster produces about 320 million shoes annually and can generate N640 billion worth of business for the manufacturers if Nigerians buy two pairs of locally made shoes at the cost of N2,000 for a pair each year.
To boost local patronage, he says the association is embarking on a campaign tagged, ‘Operation Two Pairs of Shoes’ aimed at encouraging Nigerians to buy two pairs of locally made shoes per annum to promote the industry.
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“We didn’t go into details, but simply put, an average of two pairs of shoes at N2,000 per pair would give us N640 billion business done in the sector. And if Nigerians hearken to our call and buy two pairs of shoes per annum, I tell you, there would be food on the tables of many Nigerians that feed from this sector,” he affirms.
He explains that the data currently used for policy and advocacy in the leather sector are mere estimates, stressing that no accurate and verifiable information on the activities of the sector is available for use.
These include finished leather goods needed by Nigeria annually, finished leather produced and exported from Nigeria annually, Nigeria’s finished leather goods production capacity, quantity of products exported from the country and the accurate number of persons engaged in production in the sector.
The Aba leather cluster is said to be the biggest in West Africa. About 40,000 people are directly engaged in the manufacture of shoes, belts and bags. The production capacity of Aba leather makers is estimated at about one million pairs of shoes per week, and they produce for local and international markets.
However, due to unofficial export that goes on in the sector, it has been difficult for policy makers to get accurate data to develop the sector and this is one of the issues the RFID- enabled technology would help solve.
