As the African continent embraces industrialization as the driver for economic growth, governments are acutely aware that this has to be done in an environmentally sustainable way. Lessons from other parts of the world have shown that industrialization could also lead to massive environmental degradation if not well managed. Recent developments in industrial biotechnology offer an attractive mechanism for mitigating environmental degradation associated with industrial activities.
The East African region is endowed with several unique and extreme habitats all harboring a rich microbial diversity. Most industrial enzymes currently in use are obtained from microorganisms. Already some enzymes with attractive potential for industrial application have been discovered from the region
Despite its huge potential for biotechnology innovation, to date the region is not exploiting this microbial resource. To use this resource for the benefit of the region, it is important that enzyme producing companies emerge in the region and compete in the global industrial enzyme market.
In the Eastern Africa region, the leather tanning industry is one of the fastest growing manufacturing sectors. Governments in the region have already recognized this potential and are encouraging investors to set up processing industries whilst discouraging export of raw and semi-processed animal skin/ hide. The conversion of raw hides and skin into leather products is a multi-step process involving the use of different chemicals as processing aids. Microbial enzymes are also an option in this industry. Internationally there is growing interest to develop and optimize the use of enzymes as processing aids to fully replace chemicals in all the tanning processes. This however is not the case in eastern Africa due to lack of technical know-how and cost issues.
To demonstrate the potential usefulness of the regions microbial genetic resource as a source of valuable enzymes, a consortium was formed to identify and produce enzymes from local microbial resources and test their applicability in the leather tanning industry in the region.
