MADE IN KENYA: Kaia Leather | How a trip to Ethiopia inspired a successful leather business

At his workshop in Kasarani, Ngugi Mwatha and his team are busy. This is Kaia Leather, a venture he co-founded with his wife to make different leather products, after a visit to Ethiopia. 

Mwatha sources the leather from local tanneries depending on the orders from his clients. Kaia Leather specialises in cow hide which Mwatha says is strong and durable.

Targeting every Kenyan home, Kaia Leather manufactures a wide range of leather products.

To stand out, Kaia Leather uses different textures of leather to meet customer tastes and preferences. Mwatha also believes that the pricing of Kaia Leather products is their biggest selling point. 

"We have different textures and different patterns of leather, we also really try to vary the colour that we use. We are also in the process of rolling out a new product that is going to mix leather and ankara. We have items ranging from Ksh.600 to 16k. The 16k are the large travel bags," Mwatha adds.

He says there have been deliberate efforts from stakeholders to boost the leather industry in Kenya, and his long term plan is to expand Kaia Leather to be able to make more products and become a training centre for aspiring entrepreneurs.