Archive for Africa

Innovating Socially and Agriculturally – Brigite Faustin

Posted by nakhlacn17 
· Monday, October 1st, 2018 
· 1 Comment

The Tanzanian economy is challenging to navigate, particularly for a young female “agripreneur,” one who is making entrepreneurial innovations related to agriculture. Small businesses are supported little by the government. However, since spotting a gap in the agricultural business, 30-year-old Brigite Faustin has worked hard to innovate the business. Most edible oils are imported at high expenses from other countries, with local companies failing to meet quality standards and independent farmers struggling as a result.

In response, Faustin’s business OBRI prioritizes value and quality through the manufacturing of edible oils while supporting local farmers and working to improve the agricultural conditions for better product quality and quantity.

The initial three months were a challenge for Faustin, who doubted her brand would stand out. However, she managed to overcome the challenges and has become immensely successful in her field. Regarding what brought her success, she reflects that “I chose to shed my illusions, understood the core value proposition in my business model, and demystified the workings of the business world.” Faustin sees new opportunities for similar success for Tanzanian women like her in the future. She describes women today as being “ready to work for it” instead of just being satisfied with what is handed to them.

In a changing society, modern African agriculture has become more commercial-oriented, leading to far more opportunities for women, and young entrepreneurs as a whole, to jump on board and launch businesses of their own.

Learn More: https://sheleadsafrica.org/brigite-faustin/

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Categories : Africa, Agriculture, Women Entrepreneurs
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BURN Stoves

Posted by wanekjr17 
· Sunday, December 10th, 2017 
· 6 Comments

        Peter Scott noticed an issue back in 2010. During his trip around the sub-Sahara Desert area in Africa, he observed that often in the thousands of remote villages, in order for the women to be able to cook food for their families they would need to walk miles to find suitable wood. When they burned this wood back in the villages, the smoke would often get into the lungs of the children and women around. Scott found a need and created BURN Stoves, cooking stoves that required 50% less wood to produce the needed amount of heat for cooking. In doing so, they were able to greatly reduce the amount of smoke released and cut the time for the women to gather the wood.

As a side note, the Scott also made the decision to sell the stoves to the African people. While this may seem money-hungry, they did it for a purpose. If the African people invested in the product, then they would take better care of it, repair it when needed, and put more stock into it lasting, thus extending the life span of it. It also stimulates the economy of these countries as the stoves themselves are made in the same countries.

Due to the fact that this stove also helps the environment, BURN Stoves have also received grants from the government as well as investments from large corporations looking to show that they are taking moves to themselves help the environment.

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Categories : Uncategorized
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Are You Thinking of the Children?

Posted by Caroline Parker 
· Tuesday, November 8th, 2016 
· 1 Comment

Alain Nteff was, and he was thinking about the mothers too when he created his lifesaving app Gifted Mom.

In 2012, at a twenty years of age, Alain Nteff visited a rural hospital to see his friend Conrad Tankou at a medical practice. At this hospital, Nteff was shocked to learn about the high number of deaths of both mothers and children during the process of birth. Many of these tragedies would be preventable with proper antenatal care. Both Nteff and Tankou set out to see how they could to minimize this affliction in their community.

“The problem of maternal and infant death is not a woman issue — it’s a humanitarian issue. Everybody should take seriously. We all have mothers, we all have sisters, and it’s not just a problem for women or girls.” – Alain Nteff

Nteff and Tankou’s part in solving this problem is an app called Gifted Mom. Gifted Mom offers the following services to women in Cameroon and Nigeria:

– Weekly Antenatal care guide and notifications for pregnant women.
– Vaccination guide and notifications for mothers with children under 5 years.
– Breastfeeding guide for mothers and Career Women.
– Pregnancy Calculator for calculating the expected date of delivery.
– Guide for first time pregnancy and teenage mothers
– Send your concerns to a Doctor and get instant reply.
– Journal your journey

This is a free app and the information it offers is crucial in minimizing unnecessary deaths of mothers and children. If moms have a question, all they have to do is text it to Gifted Mom and they will receive immediate, reliable information. This app also tracks vaccinations in an effort to minimize the 4,000 deaths babies suffer from vaccine-preventable diseases. So far 13,300 mothers and children have been registered through this app. That day trip to the hospital turned into a project that’s give life and hope to many.

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Categories : App, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Social Entrepreneur
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Solar Schoolbags

Posted by Hannah Hastings 
· Friday, October 7th, 2016 
· 1 Comment

When Thato Kgatlhanye was 18 and fresh out of high school, she knew she wanted to do something for the underprivileged communities in South Africa where she grew up. She and her friend Rea Ngwane immediately founded the social enterprise ‘Rethaka’ without a single clue what they were going to do. 2 years later, they found the idea that would impact thousands of children across South Africa.

At age 21 in 2014, Thato Kgatlhanye founded the social enterprise Repurpose Schoolbags which takes plastic bags, upcycles them into durable schoolbags, and installs solar-powered lighting on the outside. The bag charges in the sun during the day, and turns into a portable light for the children to study with at night. It is also made with reflective material so the children are easily visible to traffic on their way to and from school.

The idea was inspired by Thato’s mother and the local impoverished communities of South Africa. Thato’s mother studied by candlelight when she was a child, and usually the candle would only last until Wednesday of the school week, meaning she couldn’t study on Thursday or Friday. Currently, many children in South Africa use plastic bags as schoolbags, and don’t have adequate lighting to study after school. Thato wanted to provide a sustainable solution, and so Repurpose Schoolbags was born.

Thato plans to light up 24 African nations, and has won over $40,000 in business competitions to sustain the enterprise. Her business’s impact is growing, and she was featured on the front of Forbes in February 2016. In the future she plans to expand the concept of solar lighting to raincoats for children, but for now her organization’s focus is on getting the solar schoolbags to as many children as possible. Her work has inspired many others, and I hope to see her company featured more as her influence expands across Africa.

Photo courtesy of repurposeschoolbags.com

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Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Recycling, Social Entrepreneur, Solar Power, Upcycling, Women Entrepreneurs
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Angaza – Illuminating The World

Posted by Wesley Suplit 
· Monday, November 3rd, 2014 
· 2 Comments

Angaza Design is a company that seeks to eradicate darkness from African homes by selling solar power lighting systems that are cheaper than traditional lighting sources and function like a pre paid cell phone.

The Problem

The Founder, Lesley Silverthorn, started researching the concept for Angaza in her senior year in the Design School at Stanford. She found a huge problem for energy distribution in East Africa, as  many families are located off the grid and use Kerosene to light their home at night. Additionally, the other energy options, which include solar power were effective, but too expensive.

The Solution

Angaza combines “pay-as-you-go” technology with solar power generation. This technology allows families to pay in small increments to pay for the solar power energy. The first product Angaza has is called the SoLite which is a 3 watt LED light that doubles as a cell phone charging station. The technology works when a family sends a payment to Angaza for their lighting, Angaza voice calls the cell phone of the family and the cellphone (through sound) transmits data to “tell” the unit to illuminate for the allotted prepaid amount. When the payment time is completed the light shuts off.

The biggest problem Angaza faces is sales and distribution as the customer base is off  the grid rural African families and businesses. They are overcoming this challenge by having  local sales representatives in Africa that believe Africa needs to be illuminated.

In Africa, the lights are now switched on, as Angaza is creating new products and embedding their technology into other products, as well.

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Categories : Social Entrepreneur
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