Hide & Skin Business Plan

INTRODUCTION

In Nigeria, agriculture has remained the largest sector of the economy. It generates employment for about 70% of Nigeria’s population and contributes about 40% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with crops accounting for 80%, livestock 13%, forestry 3%, and fishery 4%.

Though contributing only 13% to the national GDP, livestock plays an important role by providing part of the nation’s protein needs and it is from it that hides and skin is gotten from.

Ranking only second to cocoa as Nigerians largest non-oil export in terms of volume, processed hides and skin sure do have a lot of international demand where they are used in the production of leather products like shoes, bags, watch straps, belts, etc.

Nigeria produces one of the best hides and skin in the world and in order to encourage the local processing of hides and skin, development of related industries, and employment generation, the government placed a ban on the export of rawhide and skin in Nigeria.

The ban on the export of raw hides and skin as led to the establishment of local tannery constantly in need of raw hides and skins for process hence creating supply opportunity for interested investors.

However, to tap into this opportunity, the investor would need to understand in detail the different types and sizes of hides and skin in the market.

Important to note is the ever-increasing competition between humans and industry for raw hides and skin in Nigeria which further creates scarcity of the product.

The major market destinations for Nigeria’s processed hides and shin is mainly in Europe and Asia with Italy, China, Hong Kong leading the pack.

Though in Nigeria, the majority of the product processed hides and skin tends to come from cow and goat, other animal skin equally has great demand and they include crocodile, buffalo, Zebra, etc. It is, however, important to note that in order to guide against indiscriminate killing and poaching of wild animals, the convention on international trade of endangered species of wild fauna and flora {CITES}, signed a treaty that restricts the importation of animal skins in order to preserve such animals.

The treaty also empowers CITES to grant an exemption for trade in skins of animals reared in captivity. The leather industry has continued to generate employment for the old and the young, particularly, in the North-West part of Nigeria.

It is one of the enterprising ventures that have refused to go moribund, even in the face of the incessant refusal of the Federal Government to actualize its touted policies on the provision of the needed infrastructural facilities and social amenities.