The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) and the Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) are working together to support the development of the leather sector in Africa. This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between IUCEA and ALLPI in October 2023 in Kampala, Uganda.
IUCEA is the Regional Facilitation Unit (RFU) of the East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP), an initiative funded by the World Bank and the Governments of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania to increase the access and improve the quality of TVET programs in selected Regional Flagship TVET Institutes and to support regional integration in East Africa.
Hailemichael Asrat, the Project Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for EASTRIP (2nd Left) with other panelists on ALLPI Regional Consultation forum in Mombasa, Kenya.
The cooperation between the two organisations is expected support EASTRIP’s work in addressing skills shortage and mismatch in the leather sector, by providing technical, financial and industry partnerships to improve the relevance and quality of training programmes in selected Regional Flagship TVET Institutes (RFTIs). It is expected to facilitate the creation of a high-calibre workforce, including technicians, technologists, and to encourage research and innovation in the field.
As part of the partnership, in December 2023, IUCEA participated in the 16th annual regional consultative forum organized by ALLPI in Mombasa, Kenya and contributed to a panel discussion on future strategic collaboration under the thematic on cultivation of skilled technicians and the establishment of product design studios.
EASTRIP is currently supporting the Federal TVET Institute in Ethiopia and the Dar Es Salaam Institute of Technology’s Mwanza Campus in Tanzania to improve their infrastructure and capacity to deliver quality and relevant programmes in the leather sector to meet the demands of the labour market and ensure the sector’s competitiveness in both local and international markets.
The improved infrastructure and facilities are expected to offer opportunities for strategic cooperation and serve as potential pilot locations for product design studios, and act as hubs where technicians can be trained to support small to large-scale industries.
By Hailemichael Asrat, the Project Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for EASTRIP at IUCEA.
