The Governor of Lagos, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that the Industrial Leather Hub being constructed by the Lagos State Government in Matori Industrial Area, Mushin, had reached 65 per cent completion stage.
The tannery project, which was conceived in 2020 for the production of leather products, such as shoes, belts, bags and upholsteries, would house 42 lock-up shops in the hub, where finished leather goods would be traded.
The facility will also offer training opportunities for youths to learn skills in leather manufacturing and earn a decent living in the value chain.
Speaking after an inspection tour of the project, Sanwo-Olu remarked that raw leather exported to China and Europe were brought back to Nigeria in finished goods and were more expensive.
He said, “We initiated this idea of the leather hub to break into this economic cycle and add value to raw leather materials produced locally. The hub would be a primary manufacturing source for retailers in the ecosystem.”
“There is a large leather market in Mushin to take up the produce to consumers. Therefore, traders would no longer be burdened to turn tanned skins to finished products.
“The hub is at about 65 per cent complete and though the contractor has committed to the December deadline, we will give him two additional months, because we are expecting the equipment to be used for the leather production to start arriving from October.”
The governor stated that the economic value of this was that “we can start and end the entire production process here in Lagos.”
He noted that the completion of the hub would also translate to generation of direct and indirect jobs for small and medium enterprises in the ecosystem.