A delegation of nine German shoe and leather component suppliers is currently in Ethiopia for matchmaking activities with Ethiopian companies in the leather sector. From the German side, the companies Forbo, Schaaf Modelle, Molina e Bianchi BDF Group, KLÖCKNER DESMA, Heinz Trebs, Röchling Hydroma, Huntsman Polyurethanes, Wilhelm Textile and Leibrock are involved. The delegation will meet companies such as Ras Dashen, Kangaroo and Peacock amongst others, both at their offices and factories and during informal one-to-one meetings. The procurement of high quality shoe accessories has been a bottleneck in the Ethiopian shoe value chain, therefore a deal with those suppliers could ease that bottleneck for Ethiopian companies and allow them to produce even higher quality shoes. The Engineering Capacity Building Program (ecbp) is facilitating this visit as part of their intervention in the value chain of the shoe sector. ecbp has already brokered a deal with a top German shoe producer, ara Shoes, securing 2.5 million Euro export revenue for Ethiopia.
For more information on ecbp’s work in the leather sector see an interview with our leather expert here, and an article about the increase in leather exports here.