Aba footwear cluster repositions for growth   

 

The ingenuity of Aba artisans recently attracted the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) which partnered with the federal government to set up a Common Facility Centre (CFC) to support the cluster.

 

The Aba leather cluster, said to be the largest in West Africa, with a production capacity of about one million pairs of shoes per week, produces for local and international markets.

 

But lack of trust and understanding among sector operators created divisions within the cluster.

 

However, the rancor and distrust within the cluster is becoming a thing of the past, following the formation of Leather Product Manufacturers Association of Abia State (LEPMAAS), an umbrella body of shoe, belt and bag makers in Abia State.

 

LEPMAAS, which was formed in 2012, by the Growth and Employment in States (GEMS 1), sponsored by the Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom, recently conducted a successful election, which produced the first set of officers to administer the affairs of the association for three years.

 

The elected members are: Okechukwu Williams, president; Confidence Obioma, 1^st vice president; Collins Ogba Isaac, 2^nd vice president, and Chibuike Ihedigbo, secretary, among others.

 

Jonathan Arome, intervention manager, finished leather goods (FLG), GEMS 1, said bringing the twelve zones that make up the Aba finished leather cluster together was a great achievement.

According to Arome, it took (GEMS) three years to unite this cluster and make it formidable.

 

“By this feat, the sky will be their limit. All developmental partners, government agencies and international non-governmental organizations will now be keen to work with them, because they now have an umbrella body,” Arome said.

 

“The industry has been in depression for a long time, and now that the economy of the country is developing to the non-oil sector, LEPMAAS should position itself to attract investments targeted at the sector.

 

“In our intervention programme, what we leave behind is sustainability and we can only say that our project is successful if they sustain the unity that we have built within the cluster.”

 

Okechukwu Williams, president, LEPMAAS, in an interaction with Real Sector Watch, praised members for their commitment to reposition the cluster and promised to elevate the cluster by creating more activities within the sector.

 

“You can see that the twelve clusters were fully represented. All the zonal chairmen and secretaries were all here, which is as a result of the level of advocacy LEPMAAS has done over these years, “he said.

 

Collins Agu Onyeocha, who led the election committee, expressed happiness over the outcome of the election and advised the elected officers to carry everybody along.