Judith Phiri, judith.phiri@sundaynews.co.zw THE Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has played a critical role in supporting the recovery and development of Zimbabwe’s leather sector through interventions aimed…
**Judith Phiri, [email protected] **
THE Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has played a critical role in supporting the recovery and development of Zimbabwe’s leather sector through interventions aimed at strengthening value addition, improving market access, and enhancing the competitiveness of local leather products.
These interventions come as Zimbabwe continues to revive its leather industry and maximise value from locally available livestock resources, while also creating employment and expanding opportunities for businesses across the leather value chain.
In an interview, Leather Institute of Zimbabwe (LIZ) Board chairman, Mr Cornelio Sunduza, highlighted COMESA’s contributions to the development of Zimbabwe’s leather sector since 2000.
“The Adding Value to African Leather (AVAL) Regional Project was an important regional initiative funded by the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) and implemented through regional executing partners, including COMESA, the Common Leather Products Initiative (CLPI), and ESALIA.
“The project was designed to promote value addition within Africa’s leather value chain, with particular emphasis on transforming hides and skins into finished leather and finished leather products, rather than exporting them in raw or semi-processed form,” he said.
Mr Sunduza said one of the major interventions under the project was the improvement of slaughtering infrastructure, particularly in rural and livestock-producing areas.
In Zimbabwe, he said the project supported improvements in areas including Shurugwi, Nhema, Murehwa, and Gwanda.
“Slaughter bays and related facilities were established or improved in these areas with project support. This intervention helped improve the collection, handling, preservation, and quality of hides and skins at source, thereby strengthening the foundation of the leather value chain.”
He said private-sector companies benefitted directly from the project through technical assistance, capacity building, market exposure, and access to international expertise.
Mr Sunduza said key interventions included in-house technical training for companies involved in leather processing and manufacturing, and bringing international experts from other countries to provide specialised technical training and knowledge transfer.
“The other interventions were facilitating participation in regional leather fairs and exhibitions in COMESA member countries, including Egypt, Kenya, and Ethiopia;
“As well as exposure to international markets, technologies, product development, and industry trends; and strengthening the capacity of Zimbabwean companies to participate in regional and international leather markets,” he added.
Mr Sunduza said these interventions contributed to the development of companies that subsequently became more competitive and increasingly capable of participating in the export of leather and exotic leather products.
He said COMESA’s interventions went beyond individual projects and contributed to the development of a more structured and competitive national leather value chain.
“One of the significant achievements was the development of the Zimbabwe Leather Sector National Strategy (2012–2017). The strategy was developed through a participatory, private-sector-led process, involving stakeholders across the leather value chain.
“Government, private-sector players, and civil society participated in a market-driven value-chain analysis aimed at identifying the major constraints, opportunities, and priorities for revitalising Zimbabwe’s leather sector,” he said.
Mr Sunduza said the strategy was aligned with national development priorities and provided a framework for national, regional, and international policy coordination and development interventions.
He said, among other things, the strategy identified market potential at national, regional, and international levels, as well as key national challenges affecting the leather industry.
“It also identifies actions to be undertaken by different stakeholders, realistic policy goals and implementation objectives, and priorities for resource mobilisation and allocation.
“The strategy therefore provided an important foundation for the coordinated development of Zimbabwe’s leather value chain. COMESA also supported the development of leather clusters and facilitated the procurement of equipment and tools for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs),” he said.
Mr Sunduza said this intervention helped SMEs and emerging manufacturers to acquire productive capacity, improve product quality, and move from informal or low-technology production towards more organised manufacturing.
He said another major intervention was the COMESA Regional Enterprises Competitiveness and Access to Markets Programme (RECAMP).
“Through the Technical Assistance Facility (TAF), funded by the European Development Fund (EDF), support was provided for the development of a regional leather Design Studio, benchmarked against international best practice.
“The Design Studio introduced modern product-development capabilities and provided Zimbabwean leather manufacturers and designers with access to technologies that had previously been largely unavailable within the local industry,” he added.
Mr Sunduza said the project supported the procurement of CAD/CAM equipment and associated tools for product design and prototyping, including CAD design systems, cutting plotters, ShoeMaster V20 software, and 3D design and modelling capabilities,
as well as design and pattern-development software and associated product-development and prototyping equipment.
“These technologies significantly improved the speed, accuracy, and consistency of product development and pattern making. COMESA-supported interventions also included a skills-gap analysis across the leather value chain.”
Mr Sunduza said the purpose was to identify the skills deficiencies within different segments of the industry and ensure that training was targeted at the appropriate groups, including SMEs, artisans, technicians, and other industry participants.
COMESA is a large regional economic group in Africa that helps 21 member countries work together to grow their economies and trade without heavy barriers.
It was formed in December 1994 to replace an older trade area established in 1981, and its headquarters are located in Lusaka, Zambia.
Zimbabwe is set to assume the COMESA Chairmanship for 2026–2027 and host the 25th COMESA Heads of State and Government Summit on 22 October 2026 at the New Parliament Building in Mount Hampden.
