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2 weeks ago
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Business
September 2, 2025 by Our Reporter
- By Jeremiah Ilesanmi
The inauguration of the Lagos Industrial Leather Hub presents a good opportunity for Nigerians to reduce the import of leather shoes, bags and belts thereby saving forex for the economy.
Managing Director of Kharis Engineering Services Limited, Bolaji Adebajo spoke during the Lagos Lagos Industrial Leather held recently in Lagos.
Speaking the programme, he described the Lagos Industrial Leather Hub, as one of its kind in West Africa and is supposed to be the largest leather hub in the whole of West Africa.
Adebajo, who is the contractor that designed and built the hub said: “The vision came from Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to create something new for the leather industry in Lagos, where one can come in, manufacture shoes, bags and belts. It is an avenue that allows people to be creative. And it’s an industrial training complex where people can come in and be trained on how to make leather crafts,” he said.
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According to him, one of the main reasons why the governor came up with this idea is to reduce the cost of importation of shoes, belts and bags, which takes away a lot of foreign exchange from Nigeria’s coffers.
He said: “For example, the shoe factory is designed to produce about 3,000 shoes per day. This will reduce the number of people going to China to produce and since Nigeria is one of the countries that produce leather, we can take advantage of the opportunity that this factory presents”.
Besides, he said that Nigeria’s leather chain has over a million people in that industry, hence, the hub will generate about 100,000 people per annum; boosting employment rate.
“It will reduce the number of people on the streets, and bring more employment to the industry, especially the youth that are very creative,” he noted.
Akinyemi Ajigbotafe, Lagos State commissioner of wealth creation and employment, said the hub is more than just a production centre, but a hub for collaboration.
“It will serve as a rally ground for creatives, MSMEs, investors and industry stakeholders, forming an ecosystem where ideas are extinguished, partnerships forged and opportunities unlocked,” he said.
First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who unveiled the 150,000 capacity Lagos Leather Hub on, described it as a proof that the state is a trailblazer, the heartbeat of innovation and enterprise in Nigeria.
Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the hub is first of its kind in Nigeria, and represents a gateway to global competitiveness, to Nigeria’s leather value chain.
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