CHINGOLA, 20th March, 2017. Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in collaboration with the Copperbelt Leather Industry Cluster (CLIC) has launched the Copperbelt Leather Industry Cluster (CLIC).

“We have a responsibility to realize the potential and the opportunities not just in mining but also in agriculture, tourism, logistics and trade if we want to see the Copperbelt develop more robustly,” said Steven Din, CEO of KCM.

“We want to diversify the economic base of the region so that people can have better prospects for the future. We want to create jobs and sustainable livelihoods in our communities. Broad-based economic development will be the single greatest economic legacy of mining in the Copperbelt,” he went on to say.

The CLIC is a KCM-sponsored project that aims to grow a high-quality leather industry in the region by supplying entrepreneurs with access to materials, training and market linkages.

A total of 23 entrepreneurs from various communities and markets in Chingola are being provided with formal training. Three-weeks of training provides entrepreneurs with the basic skills they need to make leather products, including industrial gloves, shoes, belts and aprons.

The project aims to benefit about 400 households and eventually as many as 2,400 people from 20 self-help groups in Chingola, Chililabombwe and Kitwe, in particular women, shoe makers, cobblers and youths, including school dropouts. KCM has spent one hundred and twenty one thousand kwacha (K121,000) on equipment, materials and training for the beneficiaries.

Chingola Municipal Council Deputy Mayor George Kampamba hailed KCM’s efforts to uplift local communities and for assisting with alternative employment creation and poverty reduction amongst women and youths.

“Projects like this one provide the much needed employment for our youths, the majority of our country’s population,” Mr. Kampamba said. “With initiatives like leather clusters, young people will learn skills that they can use to earn a living and become entrepreneurs.”

KCM, through the CLIC, aims to harness the great potential to transform the livelihoods of community members through enterprise.