Nigeria’s Minister for Science, Technology, and Innovation, Mohammed Abdullahi, has disclosed that Nigeria loses a minimum of N585 billion of revenue on leather product to other countries on a yearly basis.
The Minister disclosed this during the graduation of 165 Nigerians from the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST) on footwear manufacturing and leather goods processing/production in Abuja.
Abdullahi stated that recently, the market share of Nigerian manufacturers has increased by 10%, about N65 billion. Leather and leather products transactions are estimated to have increased in excess of N450 billion for footwear and N200 billion for other finished leather products; the export value on the average was valued at N189bn –N252bn, mainly leather.
He further mentioned that the reality about these developments is that 90% of the benefit goes to foreign countries while 10% goes into domestic accounts.
As a means of reversing this huge capital flight, Abdullahi disclosed that the Federal Government, through NILEST, is putting together the first-ever standalone National Leather and Leather Products Policy in Nigeria with its implementation strategy.
Abdullahi said the leather industry stands as one of the vibrant sectors in national economic development, contributing enormously to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of the country.
