Nigeria has the potential to generate about $1 billion, this year (2025), from the leather market, Nigerian Economic Summit Group`s report has indicated.

The leather value chain is acknowledged to be extensive in Nigeria, with Kano being the hub, the report stated, including animal husbandry, tanneries, finished leather products and leather products marketing.

Kano is known for its many festivals, ancient relics and culture, as well as one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of Nigerian leather, Kano is the largest commercial hub for the leather industry in Nigeria.

The traditional tanneries in Kano are Nigeria’s oldest, and attract large-scale local leather suppliers from the neighbouring countries of Niger Republic, Chad, and Cameroun, as well as other countries in the Sahel region.

 The leather-producing value chain begins with the Kano tanneries. These tanneries receive hides and skins stripped from slain animals and take them through the tanning process until they become leather.

“The leather and leather products industry currently employ over 750,000 workers with about 500,000 workers in the finished leather goods sector. “About eleven leather exporting companies have been active at the upstream end of the leather value chain; together, these companies generate about 8000 jobs.

“To date, however, exports are in the order of 272 million dollars; Nigeria’s semi-finished and finished leather have their highest patronage in Italy, Spain, India, South Asia and China, where it is being used in the production of Shoes, Belts, Bags, and folders that are largely traded in West Africa and many parts of Africa.

“The famous Aba shoe cluster in Abia, informally exports almost a million pairs of shoes weekly mostly to destinations within Africa,” the report highlighted.