Mozambique is developing a strategic plan to reposition its leather sector as a competitive industrial industry and a source of export growth, the Secretary of State for Industry said in Maputo.

Addressing a consultation meeting on the leather sector, Custódia Paúnde said the initiative is intended to tackle long-standing structural weaknesses that have limited the sector’s development, despite the country’s livestock base and access to domestic, regional and international markets. The meeting brought together representatives from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the German government.

According to Paúnde, current constraints include limited local processing capacity, losses of raw hides and skins, technological and financial gaps, environmental pressures, weak coordination between producers and industry, competition from imported products and poor integration into regional value chains.

The government’s plan aims to shift the sector away from a focus on exporting raw materials toward higher-value processing and manufacturing, with the goal of generating employment and supporting sustainable industrial development.

Paúnde said strengthening local production and processing would also enable Mozambique to better benefit from regional and international trade frameworks. Within SADC, she noted, closer coordination between countries that supply hides and skins and those with stronger tanning and manufacturing capabilities could support regional supply chains, encourage technology transfer and attract cross-border investment.

Paúnde pointed to opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), citing tariff reductions, harmonised rules of origin and lower non-tariff barriers as factors that could support expanded cooperation in leather production and trade.

She added that the plan is designed to enable the sector to meet domestic demand more consistently while taking advantage of regional and international market opportunities, contributing to increased exports, import substitution and employment.