Sought by luxury labels, Nigerian leather reclaims home market

MOST Nigerian leather, often semi-finished, is exported to Europe and Asia and turned into luxury items bearing international brand labels, with zero trace of its origins.

- AFP

But with her homegrown brand, Isi Omiyi creates high-end pieces to try to reclaim Nigeria's leather identity.

In her apartment in the Lagos metropolis, she has created a boutique corner where bags, wallets and shoes are carefully displayed on shelves, some carrying price tags of up to $1 500. "Leather is part of our heritage. I can't just stand by and watch others receive all the credit for work that we started here," the 56-year-old designer said.

Her mission is to amplify "Made In Nigeria" craftsmanship.

She "would like these foreign brands to indicate on their products: ‘originally from Nigeria’ and ‘made in Italy’, 'made in France,’ or elsewhere, because most of them don't," Omiyi said.

According to the country's export promotion agency: Nigeria exports 90 percent of its leather, mainly to Italy and Spain, which make up around three-quarters of the total volume. Leather exports generate about $600 million in annual revenue, said Oluwole Oyekunle, a researcher at the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology in Samaru in northern Kaduna state.