I read this paper and I knew this guy got this idea from discussion we once had it here But: he is very organized and articulate.Enjoy
A Prada Milano handbag from China retails at Sh3,500 at House of Leather in Nairobi. Shiny patent leather shoes from India go for Sh8,500. At Sh1,500, Woods leather belts from India are going like hot-cake.
These are not just prices of shoes and handbags; they are also foregone wages to some disillusioned youths from a pastoralist community in Northern Kenya who, in the absence of gainful employment, have taken up arms.
In 2016, for example, while Kenya shipped out animal hides to China and India valued at Sh2 billion, it imported from the two Asian countries finished leather products, such as those being sold expensively at the House of Leather, at a cost of Sh3.1 billion.
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This as Kenya also exported tanned leather and animal skins valued at Sh4.7 billion, compared to imports of leather products valued at more than Sh12 billion, including trunks and cases worth Sh8.8 billion from China.
The dubious case of Kenya exporting jobs even as a large fraction of its population remains jobless is not unique to leather industry, though it has been more emotive in the latter.
The country has spurned an opportunity to revamp its manufacturing industry through value-addition in some of its agricultural produce such as tea, coffee, fish or even tomatoes.