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National Awareness Workshops on ePing, WTO TBT, and SPS Agreements

Rwanda | Burundi | South Sudan
August 2026

In international markets, quality is in the details. This is particularly true for leather products such as bags, shoes and belts; buyers are often looking deeper to assess the stitching, edges and finish of the final good.

“If you don’t have the right finishing, they are not buying – or they won’t buy at the right price”, explains Essangui Mbaitjongue, the international leatherwork trainer behind MARKUP II’s regional leather manufacturing training. For East African leather SMEs hoping to compete internationally, that single detail, finishing, is often the difference between a product that sells and one that doesn’t.

From July 21st – 25th 2026, MARKUP II in collaboration with the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI), delivered a five-day regional training on leather bags and accessories manufacturing bringing together 25 participants from across East Africa. Training covered the technical skills that directly shape whether a finished product meets international standards; quality control, skiving, saddle stitching, prototyping and brand positioning.

For participants like Eric Chiza, CEO of Bandoh Leather Goods in Rwanda the training immensely raised his confidence as a business owner. “This will make me comfortable to compete with other brands, even globally. Even if I am still on a small scale, now I’m confident that I can compete.”

Importantly, this training wasn’t only about the participating SMEs. By also equipping 10 KIRDI technical staff, MARKUP II is anchoring leather expertise in an institution that will keep training East African leather SMEs for years to come.

Watch snippets from the training here: