25th Anniversary of World AIDS Day

December 1st is World AIDS Day and today marks its 25th Anniversary. Unfortunately, over 25 million people have died from the disease, but at least the numbers seem to be dimishing annually. If you'd like to find out what you can do to help there's a handy brochure with tips and a pledge card.

According to UNAIDS, 2.5 million people contracted HIV/AIDS this year alone and 95% of all cases are found in developing countries, particularly Africa. I know that several of the groups we work, such as Kenana Knitters, with had fought hard to keep their employees healthy, often sponsoring testing and providing transport for those who need access to medications.

This year's theme is "Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise" and highlights the need for innovation, vision and perseverance in the face of the AIDS challenge.

A Novel Idea

There's a recent article on All Africa.com about a woman, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf , who is has a publishing house in Nigeria. The article details many of her struggles to keep her business afloat and also her commitment to finding and cultivating African authors which make for an interesting read. What really struck me, however, is that this is one of the few African business stories I've read about a company that is trying to sell a product that in developing markets might be considered "frivolous," unlike mobile phones or microfinance institutions.

While newspapers, magazines and text books all have a specific purpose, the idea of buying a novel is one that appeal mainly to people with reasonable disposable income and a good education. Here in the West we buy books for pleasure all the time, but as Ms. Bakare-Yusuf points out, in Nigeria "someone will spend 5,000 naira (~$43) on a self-help or management book, but ask them to pay 850 naira (~$7) for a novel and they will moan and groan." To me, this is a good sign that the population is both becoming more educated and has the necessary income to spend on books. This should bode well for many other businesses and investment opportunities.

Holiday Shopping Begins!

After all the turkey (or in my case , turducken!) had been eaten the focus turned toward holiday shopping and it was a mixed bag in terms of "black Friday" this year. While on the one hand people lined up for "door busters" at the big electronics and toy stores, the regular stores at the mall were not all that busy--which oddly could be good for green and organic retailers who are not typically found in traditional mall settings. EDImports set up a table at the 3rd annual WESPAC holiday fair trade gift fair and we had a very successful day selling handmade jewelry from Kenya, baskets from Rwanda, scarves and bags from Ethiopia and all kinds of samples I've collected from throughout Africa. I also noted a big article on the cover of the New York Times Style Section all about "green" shopping and how this year will be the biggest ever for not only green gifts, but also educating friends and family members about how they can do more for the environment with small changes. Maybe re-gifting will become more acceptable now that it can fall under the category of recycling?!

A Report from the Ol Malo Trust Fund Raiser

I had the pleasure of attending a fund raising event at the Soho House in New York City this past Monday for the Ol Malo Trust, an organization set up to " to contribute to the preservation of the Samburu people in terms of qualities and health in such a way that the Samburus are independent, strong and empowered to live their lives in the way that they strongly desire and choose." I have come to know the trust's founder, Julia Francombe, through our work importing wonderful beaded products made by Samburu women in her workshop. Her workshop also supports a fantastic painting program where children create whimsical watercolors that are signed as originals and then sold to support the trust.

The trust (funded in part by the sales of the beaded goods) supports several programs in the areas of health, education, water and the arts. The event attracted a wide array of people including guests who have stayed at Ol Malo lodge, a contingent from the UK and New Yorkers who are interested in Africa. One such New Yorker (or NY transplant!) was Toby Tanser, founder of Shoe for Africa, a nonprofit that sends used shoes to people living the Kibera slum (for more on the slum, see the "vivid example" video in our September blogs). As an organizer of the NYC marathon he has great access to whole lot of shoes and with the help of actor Anthony Edwards and his wife, Jeanine Lobell, they have sent thousands of shoes to some of Africa's neediest feet.

It's All About Entrepreneurship

As seen in the last couple blogs, attention on the African economy is growing. This weekend there were two more interesting articles on this theme. First in the Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition, there was an article about investors making high risk investments in "treacherous" places such as Zimbabwe -- essentially on the theory that things can't get much worse and Mugabe can't live forever so why not get a toehold now. And lest you think the dollars are not significant, "Foreign direct investment has rebounded, reaching $103 million in 2005, up from just $4 million in 2003, according to the most recent figures available from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development." With natural resources (gold, platinum), natural wonders (Victoria Falls), and the natural desire to talk (booming cellphone industry) there are myriad opportunities for those with the stomach for daily changing exchange rates and runaway inflation.

No matter where the investment is flowing--Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda, etc.--there seems to be increasing agreement that investing in businesses and entrepreneurs is the was out of poverty for the Continent. In a really interesting article in the New York Times' Week in Review section (that looks as though it was sponsored by from, the John Templeton Foundation) people provide an answer to the question "Will Money Solve Africa's Development Problems?" Longtime proponent of entrepreneurship over aid, William Easterly of NYU, to Iqbal Quadir, founder of Grameen Phone in Bangladesh, all make strong arguments for investing directly in people and companies and avoiding--at all costs--the funneling of funds to governments. The link above has full transcripts from the article and even those who answer "Yes" qualify their answer by saying the money must come in the form of investment, not aid.

Useful Toolkit for Small & Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs)

I just stumbled upon the SME Toolkit for South Africa, a very thorough and useful tool for businesses in not only South Africa, but any developing (or that matter, developed) market. Put together by the IFC and IBM, it offers loads of resources and tools to address accounting and finance, business planning, human resources, legal and insurance, marketing and sales, operations, and technology needs.

Among the specially designed free tools are:

• an online calculator that helps small businesses determine their readiness for financing

• free software to build a web site

• fee business forms used for employee performance evaluations

• community tools such as online conferencing, blog capability, group calendars

• survey and quiz builders to help small businesses make decisions, and

• a multilingual business directory to help small businesses link locally, regionally and globally

There are links to many other countries and regions and while the basic information stays the same the case studies and local resources change making it a very functional tool.

My friends at MBAs Without Borders could use this tool as part of their training when working with their clients which would really help bring many of the concepts to life--I'll have to let them know!

Good Economic News from Africa

The World Bank is reporting that macro-economic reforms along with improved governance and better trade policy has led to vast improvements in economies throughout Africa. As stated in the report: "For the first time in three decades...African economies are growing with the rest of the world. Average growth in the sub-Saharan economies was 5.4 percent in 2005 and 2006. The consensus projection is 5.3 percent for 2007 and 5.4 percent for 2008.”

While the credit is due in large part to oil, the results indicate that there are at least 18 other "non-mineral" industries that are contributing to this growth. While fair trade, handmade goods probably didn't make the list, at least we're doing a small part to give people the income needed to participate in these growing economies.

Further, countries internationally-recognized for “good performance” in macro-economic management and trade policy rose from 5 to 15 from 1999-2007, and 27 of 36 countries evaluated had improved their performance. Of course, civil unrest and corruption in places like Côte d’Ivoire, and Zimbabwe bring overall numbers down. It is great, however, to see positive economic news coming from the continent!

Green Business Conference - Review from San Francisco

I just came back from the Co-Op America Green Business Conference, the leading conference for green businesses that was held in San Francisco last week. While there were lots of small companies full of enthusiasm to "change the world" the conference was a bit light on real business issues. There were, however, a few very good speakers, one of whom was Eric Friedenwald-Fishman from the Metropolitan Group, who gave the highlights from his recently published book: Marketing That Matters: 10 practices to profit your business and change the world. Not only is it printed on post-consumer recycled paper, it's also available in it's entirety online--for free! Definitely worth a look if your business is trying to do well while doing good.

Africa: Kenya, Ghana Top List of 'Doing Business' Reformers

According to a new report by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) Kenya and Ghana are ranked among the top 10 business reformers worldwide. Says the report, "These changes introduced by Kenya have streamlined business start-up and cut both the time and cost of getting building permits. The programme will eventually eliminate or simplify at least 900 or more of the country's 1,300 licenses." As someone who imports from these two countries along with 5 others in Africa I would concur that they are among the easiest from an export perspective. The general feeling in these countries is one of commerce rather than "aid."

Interestingly, the report also finds that good rankings on the ease of doing business are associated with higher percentages of women among entrepreneurs and employees. "The benefits of regulatory reform are especially large for women," said Sylvia Solf, one of the authors of the report. "Women often face regulations that may be designed to protect them but that instead force them into the informal sector. There, women have little job security and few social benefits," she says.

It's nice to see some positive headlines for African business!

Kenyan Outsprints Moroccon to Win the NYC Marathon

It was a glorious day in New York yesterday for the running of the famed NYC Marathon (now known by the sponsor name "The ING New York City Marathon"). Thousands of spectators, including yours truly, lined the avenues to cheer on runners who ranged from World Class to "why in the world am I doing this." I was there to cheer on a friend and former college roommate, Kim Levin, who posted an excellent 3:53:33 in this her third marathon.

The headlines, however, went once again to Kenyan Martin Lel, 29, also the 2003 champion, who sprinted to the finish in 2:09:04. For those of you trying to do the math, that's an AVERAGE pace of 4:55/mile! It has taken me longer that that to put up this blog. Kudos to the Kenyans!

PS I should also acknowledge Ethiopian runner Gete Wami, who finished just 22 seconds behind Paula Radcliffe for second place in the women's race at a blistering pace of 5:28/mile.

Samburu Beaders Featured In Travel & Leisure Magainze

The good folks at Travel and Leisure magazine are running an excellent story this month called Women at Work that highlights women in four collectives in India and Kenya, including the Samburu women at Ol Malo who make our beaded bowls and lidded pots.

As you can see from the photo, they have done a wonderful job showing the richness of the culture and the products. The story also provides a very nice profile of Julia Francombe, the woman behind the beading project, detailing many of her efforts to help the local people both preserve their ancient traditions and flourish in a modern world with all its inherent problems and incredible opportunities. There is also a slide show and links to the collectives. Enjoy!