ZE-Y-ZE is a leatherwear maker whose products catch the attention of its prospective patrons from afar, for all the authentic features that make locals across Africa doubt its origin (from the motherland).
At many of the exhibitions that the Asylum Down small leatherwear enterprise exhibits, patrons throng to be ‘wowed’ at their stands and orders surge in, but what gets the proprietor, Mr David Arthur, worried is the quietness of officialdom in promoting the rejuvenated leather works industry.
“The shoe industry in Ghana is picking up very fast after a stint with synthetic shoes from Asia. But now, customers have seen the difference and are returning to the locally made leather shoes and other products,” Mr Arthur told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS during the second solo exhibition of made in Ghana products and services at the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
He said he lost a substantial number of customers at the surge of the synthetic shoes from Asia. This continued for about three years, but the market was returning.
Mr Arthur’s leather wear includes shoes of different types and designs, made from assorted leather and suede, as well as sandals and easy wear.
ZE-Y-ZE used to source the leather from abroad but since attending an international fair in Burkina Faso, he started sourcing from there.
The patronage has been very good; the people love our products and we have made several contacts which we will follow up on,” Mr Arthur, who learnt the skill through apprenticeship, said.
He said some entities in Monrovia had expressed interest to partner him to train the youth in Liberia in leatherworks.
“They are even thinking in the long term of a vocational and technical training institution which they want us to be part of,” Mr Arthur said.
Currently employing 12 persons to assist with the work from its Asylum Down workshop, Ze-Y-Ze Leather Works needs to beef up its operations with additional men and equipment, as well as a subsidiary located in Kumasi.
This should be the case if the enterprise must meet the many orders it has recently been receiving, including a 1,000 pair of shoes a month for a buyer in Nigeria.
The enterprise also produces for local boutiques in Accra and a few parts of the country. With its limited capacity, Ze-Y-Ze can now produce 100 pairs of shoes a month.
The leather wear designer bemoaned the absence of a leather processing industry in the country, saying the Kumasi Leather Tunnel had been left to rot without any activity.
Leather processing requires the use of a standard slaughter house, an abattoir for processing meat. This would ensure that the skins of animals would be properly de-skinned and handled well until they are processed.
Like Ze-Y-Ze, there are many such apprentice graduates who cannot realise their potential for lack of appropriate interventions.
With assistance from funds such as the venture Capital Fund or the Export Development and Agriculture Investment Fund (EDAIF), Mr Arthur and his Ze-Y-Ze Leather Works should take Africa by storm, create a few more jobs and bring renewed hope to the country’s teaming youth.