Beatrice Mwasi is an innovation and management specialist with over 18 years of hands-on and professional experience in Management and execution of Business Development projects; Value Chain Development; Business Process Reengineering (BPR); Research; Export Trade Capacity Building; Establishment of Export Production Villages and Manufacturing Value Addition.
She is a Director at the Center for Business Innovation & Training (CBiT); Director – Sanabora Design House; Chairperson – Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI)’s Regional Design Studio (RDS); Founder and secretary-general – Leather Apex Society of Kenya, an umbrella organization that covers Kenya’s leather associations across the value chain; and a member in the Africa Women Entrepreneurship Project (AWEP) – Kenya board.
Beatrice’s strategic and technical interventions in Kenya’s leather sector have largely contributed to streamlining the once fragmented leather sector. Today, the sector is better placed to harness its collective potential in advancing a common vision of a highly productive and globally competitive leather industry. Other achievements, spanning over the last seven years, include; Establishment and setting up the Leather Articles Entrepreneurs Association (LAEA) an organization that caters to leather-goods manufactures. Further, she participated in establishing the Hides and Skins Producers Association (AQHSP) to cater for the production of quality hides and skins and Linked, in a mutually enriching manner, the above associations with Tanners Associations of Kenya, Cobblers Association of Kenya and the Kenya Footwear Manufactures Association under the apex umbrella.
Additionally, Beatrice has delivered a series of capacity building workshops and forums, conducted incoming and outgoing trade missions, and industry meetings to sensitize, upskill and facilitate business opportunities for the leather industry. She is behind Kenya’s first pre-international leather conference and trade fair (KILELE-2019) that saw over 400 delegates, and the highest number of Kenya leather sector stakeholders in attendance.
The South-South Exchange forum set to be held next month is one of the leather industry advancement initiatives that Beatrice is championing under CBiT in collaboration with the East Africa Leather Consortium, with the auspicious support of GIZ-EAC and GFA-Consulting. The forum aims to facilitate sharing information and best practices in advocacy and to promote establishment of business linkages between leather entrepreneurs and and prosperity leather industries in East Africa and their counterparts in the Horn of Africa.
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PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION: Beatrice holds a Master’s Degree in Design Management (Middlesex University – UK); Diploma in Management (Swedish Institute of Management); BA (Hons) in Industrial Design (The University of Nairobi); And now pursuing Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship (at research stage), after successfully completing a pre-doctoral course in Entrepreneurship at the Jomo-Kenyatta University of Agriculture Technology. Beatrice holds a certificate in Local Economic Development from the University of Wagenigen (Netherlands); She is a certified Trainer by the International Labour Organization (ILO), A certified Trainer in Export Trade by the Centre for Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI) – Netherlands; A certified Trainer in Export Trade by Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA) in conjunction with Export Promotion Council (EPC); Certified Trained Trainer in SME Business Management by the Institute for Capacity Development (AICAD) and a certified CALIDENA Trainer by the Federal Metrology Institute (PTB).
AWARDS: In recognition of her work/service, Beatrice is a recipient of: Africa Leather & Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) Award for Extemporary, Meritocratic Entrepreneurial Leadership; JICA – Outstanding Export Trade Trainer Award; CBI –Netherlands, Outstanding Trainer /Consultant Award (TTT/C 2006); British Council – Chevening ‘Designing Tomorrow’ award winner; World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) – Development Designer Recognition Award; Middlesex University – Academic Excellence Award.