PRESS RELEASE
SADC to Host a B2B Workshop to Support Regional Integration and Industrialisation in the Leather Value Chain
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe | 23-24 July 2025 – The Southern African Development Community (SADC), with support from the German Government, will host a two-day Business-to-Business (B2B) Workshop in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The event will bring together key stakeholders in the leather industry to build strategic business linkages, foster innovation, and advance regional industrialisation.
The B2B Workshop aims to strengthen cross-border collaboration and investment in the leather value chain in line with the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2015–2063). Aligned with the Leather Regional Model Policy Framework, the event seeks to promote high value addition, regional competitiveness, and the harmonisation of production standards and trade policies.
Participants will include manufacturers, tanners, designers, retailers, financiers, policymakers, and business support organisations from across the region. The event provides a platform to share market intelligence, discuss sustainability and traceability practices, explore technological advancements in leather processing, and engage in direct business matchmaking sessions.
Highlights of the programme include speed-networking sessions, discussions on latest developments in the leather value chain global, continental and regional levels case studies on successful partnerships, and discussions on key issues such as non-tariff barriers, access to finance, livestock insurance, and digital certification.
The B2B Workshop also includes a special session on brand collaboration and co-creation between manufacturers and designers, followed by company visits to promote business exposure and potential investment opportunities.
This initiative is part of SADC-German cooperation’s broader efforts to promote value chain development and to strengthen regional economic integration in SADC. It is implemented by GIZ, under the Cooperation for the Enhancement of SADC Regional Economic Integration (CESARE) programme.
For further information and inquiries, please contact:
Anethe Mtambanengwe, Communication and Public Relations Officer
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat
Email: [email protected]
German Embassy Gaborone, Press Officer, Email: [email protected] , GIZ
Technical Advisor, GIZ CESARE/Value Chain Development (VCD)
Email: [email protected]
Meron Estifanos
Communication Expert, GIZ Botswana and SADC
Email: [email protected]