A couple of Italian companies have pushed their way into Tanzania’s leather sector in order to take advantage of the large quantities of raw hides and skins produced every year in the country.
Toscana Machine Calzature (TMC) and ItalProgetti have signed an agreement with the Prisons Department and the Public Service Social Security Fund to establish two leather factories in the Kilimanjaro Region of Moshi.
The companies will invest just over £18 million to construct the factories which will be jointly managed with Karanga Leather Industries Company.
The two factories, one for shoe-making and another for tanneries, will be built on 25 acres of land and the project is expected to take 16 months.
TMC sales manager Daniele Ferradini said the Italian companies will provide both the finance and technology for the production of quality leather products for export to Italy and other European countries. The plant is forecast to produce over one million pairs of shoes per year.
The Public Service Social Security Fund and the National Social Security Fund, in conjunction with the Prisons Department, are also reviving leather factories in the Morogoro Region.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli has also invited Egyptian investors to venture into livestock-based industries, mostly beef and leather products, banking on Egyptian technology in leather and livestock products.
This came following Ministry of Industry and Trade reports, which show that Tanzania has been exporting shoes and leather products while making little use of its livestock.
