A powerful call to transform waste into wealth and reinvigorate Africa’s leather value chains echoed through the halls of Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week (ASFW) in Nairobi. A thought-provoking panel titled “From Waste to Wonder: Transforming Leather into Timeless Products” brought together changemakers advocating for innovation, inclusion, and circular design within the continent’s leather industry.
Moderated by Beatrice Mwasi, Managing Director of the Center for Business Innovation and Training (CBiT) and coordinator of the Real Leather. Stay Different. (RLSD) initiative in Africa, the session urged participants to rethink sustainability and question the hidden costs of waste.
Leather is not the waste. Landfilling it is,
stated Preston Viswamo, Project Manager at the Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI), emphasizing the continent’s urgent need to expand local processing capacity and design infrastructure.
Viswamo presented ALLPI’s Regional Design Studio Initiative—active in 10 COMESA member states—as a development tool harnessing design to convert raw hides into globally competitive, value-added products.
Judy Kang, Creative Director of Nashipai Leather, shared a human-centered perspective, rooted in her experiences with the Maasai community’s zero-waste philosophy.
“There is no dustbin in a Maasai village,” she said. “Every part of the animal is used—even the hide becomes warmth. Nashipai Leather now employs deaf artisans and single mothers, creating products from even the smallest leather offcuts, embodying sustainability that uplifts both people and the planet.
Tally Einav, UNIDO’s Head of Office in Kenya, addressed structural barriers facing Africa’s leather industry, criticizing the continued export of semi-processed Wet Blue hides and importation of finished products at a premium.
We don’t lack resources. We lack localisation she noted, calling for stronger public procurement policies favoring locally made leather goods and better traceability and brand-building to compete globally.
The discussion also highlighted fragmentation within African value chains and the need for regional integration.
We are not short of talent; we’re short of connection, Mwasi emphasized. “We must move from silos to systems.
The panel spotlighted the Real Leather. Stay Different. (RLSD) competition—coordinated in Africa by CBiT and organized in collaboration with the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA) and ALLPI—which aims to inspire a new generation of designers who view leather not as waste, but as a material of legacy and innovation.
The session concluded with a bold challenge: to integrate, collaborate, and create—building systems of traceability, design, education, and policy that unlock Africa’s immense leather potential.
