Italian leather firms invest $24 million in Tanzania

Italian firms Toscana Machine Calzature (TMC) and ItalProgetti are entering Tanzania’s leather sector following an agreement with the prisons department and Public Service Social Security Fund that will see two leather factories constructed in Moshi Region.

A total of $24.5 will be invested in the construction of the factories, which will be located in the industrial area within Karanga prison. One will focus on shoe making, while the other will be a tannery. It is hoped that the project will help Tanzania manufacture goods domestically that it has been importing despite the large quantities of hides and skins produced every year. Estimates put the numbers produced each year at 3.9 million bovine hides, 2.5 million goatskins and 2.3 million sheepskins. These are often sold on to factories in Kenya.

With construction expected to take 16 months, it is projected that upon completion the shoe factory will have the capacity to manufacture 1.2 million pairs of shows annually. Tanzania currently imports between 31,000 and 42,000 pairs of leather shoes from China and South East Asia annually.