A study by Small and Enterprise Development Institute (Smedi) found that Malawi loses annually about $95 million (about K70 billion) due to exports of raw hides to Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and China. Meanwhile government has acknowledged that the lack of a tannery that can process hides up to the crust stage, is keeping the leather industry from growing.

During the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Mikolongwe Vocational School and the Leather Design Studio, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism director of administration and finance, Joseph Mkandawire revealed that government now plans to buy a tannery to offset the losses.

Currently, shoe manufacturers in the country are importing leather from other countries, a situation that can be avoided if the country can process the hides locally up to the crust stage. On the other hand, Malawi bares good results in terms of hides and skins annually; the remaining step is to process the raw materials with the establishment of a tannery.