EAC Secretariat kick-starts assessment of supply capacities for textiles, apparels and leather products in the region
The East African Community Secretariat has kick-started assessment of supply capacities for textiles, apparels and leather products in the region to facilitate planning for the phasing-out of the second hand leather and apparels products in line with the Directive of the 17th EAC Heads of State Summit, with the visit by the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, Hon. Jesca Eriyo to A to Z Textile Mills Limited located in Arusha, Tanzania, on Friday 5th August 2016.
The Deputy Secretary General was accompanied by key officials under her docket namely; the Director of Productive Sectors, Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana; the Principal Industrial Economist, Mr. George Ndira; the Principal Agricultural Economist, Mr. Moses Marwa; the Senior Export Promotion Officer, Ms. Emmanuella Hakizimana; EAC-UNIDO Programme Coordinator, Mr. Johansein Rutaihwa; the EAC Consultant undertaking the study on Textiles and Leather Value Chains, Dr. Onesmo Shuma.
The EAC delegation met and held talks with the CEO of A to Z Textile Mills Limited, Mr. Anuj Shah, who was accompanied by Dr. Johnson Ouma Odera, the Director for Africa Technical Research Centre and other Directors and senior staff.
The EAC and A to Z Textile Mills Teams discussed extensively and toured the company facilities to assess capacity, quality and variety of products available that could be locally produced as per the Summit directive. Hon. Jesca Eriyo noted that as EAC plans to phase-out second-hand clothes/shoes (SHCs), it was crucial to engage the industry players to seek their opinion on the most effective strategies to do it while ensuring steady availability of apparels and leather products to meet the demand for the region. "It is equally important to gauge the level of preparedness by the industry to respond to the expected ban and what the industry may need in terms of support measures/incentives to expand investment in order to meet the demand for these products", affirmed the EAC official.
The Secretariat plans to undertake a similar visit to a Leather Tannery in Moshi, as well as to the other EAC Partner States.