Skip to main content

Growing Kenya’s Leather Industry - One Stitch at a Time

Nashipai Leather

Kenya

Nashipai Leather

Kenya’s leather value chain holds immense potential, and this a reality backed by decades of history. In the 1970s and early 1980s, leather was among the top five foreign exchange earners with local footwear production meeting over 80% of the national demand (Business Daily, 2024). Kenya equally has a significant livestock industry; that generates both hides and skins, and with concentrated efforts and changes across both policy and sector – Kenya can emerge as a leader in East Africa’s leather industry.

Enter, Nashipai Leather a Kenyan-based SME that’s recapturing value in a critical area: design and finishing. This is the stage through which leather hides are transformed into bags, wallets, and shoes – and where Nashipai offers real examples of what it looks like to build capacity domestically, rather than somewhere else.

Nashipai Leather was founded by Cindy Kwak, whose upbringing and experiences in Kenya, spurred a critical decision to build a home-grown premium leather brand. Meticulous hand-stitching by deaf artisans, full-grain leather and an unwavering commitment to sustainability have buttressed Nashipai’s growth from a workshop in Nairobi to retail presence in global hubs like New York.

Nashipai Leather
at Tribal Chic 2026,
Nairobi, Kenya

Photo Credit: Nashipai Leather

Speaking about what building the company has demanded of her, Kwak is candid that it was never just about launching a venture,

"To me, entrepreneurship is no longer just about launching a venture or filling a market gap – it’s about building an ecosystem where purpose, craft and resilience reinforce one another. It’s the daily decision to choose long-term dignity and sustainability over quick fixes, transforming raw materials and human potential into something that endures."

The choice to build Nashipai’s workshop around deaf artisans was not a branding decision, and Kwak is careful to draw that distinction. "We did not build Nashipai Leather around inclusion out of charity, we built it around dignity, capability, and mutual value." Hand-stitching leather demands exactly the kind of spatial intuition, tactile focus, and visual precision that her artisans excel in naturally, and she’s built her workshop around this strength.

EU-EAC MARKUP II’s role in this journey has been structural. Through the programme, Nashipai has sharpened its business practices in three concrete ways: guidance on international quality standards, traceability, and market compliance. Digital trade webinars, and MARKUP II supported trade initiatives have given Nashipai visibility to both regional and international buyers through platforms like the EAC MSME’s Trade Fair. While training on streamlining unit economics has challenged Nashipai to do the back-office work that determines whether a small business can survive cross-border commerce.

"MARKUP II provided the structural scaffold that allowed us to pair our social impact story with rigorous commercial and trade standards" Kwak explains.

This level of support matters for SMEs like Nashipai, that are the backbone of Kenya’s leather sector. Looking at Nashipai’s bags, and making sense of their scale of operations shows that growth and upward trajectory is possible in Kenya’s leather sector. And MARKUP II’s capacity building support can be the catalyst that can get SMEs to meet the compliance, traceability and quality that international markets expect.

Nashipai’s Gloria Bag in Burgundy

Photo Credit: Nashipai Leather

Kwak’s final remarks to entrepreneurs looking to build sustainable businesses;

"Build on capacity, not charity. Anchor your business in the genuine skill and value your team brings. Remember you do not have to build inclusive supply chains in isolation. Tap into regional development initiatives, export readiness programmes like MARKUP II, and local advocacy networks, as they offer invaluable guidance on standards, market access and trade compliance."