India, Africa to share leather technology

Aiming to enhance bilateral trade between Africa and India, Indian industry is looking at collaboration in sectors such as leather and leather products among others during the two-day conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership, 2008 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

"The African leather sector is in discussions with Indian leather manufacturers, with the aim of technology transfers," Sarita Nagpal, deputy director general and head, manufacturing, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), CII, said.

For instance, the Ethiopian Leather Industry Association (ELIA) is working towards a technology collaboration with Indian leather industry clusters to gain technology for design of shoe uppers. CII is looking to joining hands with ELIA to facilitate interaction between the Indian and Ethiopian leather industries.

The Indian leather industry, largely dominated by SMEs, accounts for approximately 3.4 per cent of the world trade in leather and leather products.

During the first seven months of the current fiscal, footwear and their components accounted for about 42 percent of India's total leather products exports, a CII paper said.

According to CII, the Indian and the African leather sectors are high potential areas for trade, but there is a significant gap between resources and production. While the leather industry is an important strategic sector for the economic and industrial development of many African countries, there is a lack of technology in terms of design and finishing, which Africa expects to gain from India.

"There is a distinct lack of environmental awareness and training facilities for human resource as well as infrastructure bottlenecks that Africa faces, and is looking at India to provide remedies," Nagpal added.

India is the second largest footwear producer in the world. According to CII, footwear accounts for 33 percent of India's total export of leather and leather products. "Major markets include the UK, the US, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and Netherlands. Of the total exports of footwear from India, around 50 percent goes to the UK, the US and Germany," Nagpal said.

Bilateral trade between India and Africa shot up from less than $9.5 billion in 2005-06 to over $20 billion in 2006-07. "The government of India is aiming to achieve a trade turnover of $500 billion by 2010, out of which $300 billion will be imports. This opens up a window of opportunity for the African countries to increase their exports to India from the present level of $3.8 billion," Nagpal added.