From Covanya to Kagame

Earlier this year, I participated in a Harvard Business School Immersion Experience Program that sent a 41 member team to Rwanda to work on short-term consulting projects with a host of local non-profit and for-profit organizations. LaToya Stallworth, Jacqueline Sandberg and myself opted to work with Indego Africa. As part of our project, we visited the Covanya basket-weaving cooperative in Nyamata, Rwanda and worked with the women on marketing and supply chain management. During our second day of teaching at the cooperative, we noticed a lovely blue and green plateau baskets with the name “Paul Kagame” stitched into the design. At that time we knew there was a strong chance our HBS delegation would get to meet the president of Rwanda, so we asked the creator of the basket if we could buy it from her and potentially present it to the President. When she heard the basket may be given to the president, she was ecstatic and insisted we take photographs to document the handover.

President Kagame and Tawanda.

About a week later, our visit with Mr. Paul Kagame was confirmed. Also, the leader of our delegation, Professor Wells, agreed to let the Indego team present the Covanya basket to the president! All 41 of us made our way to his offices in 6 Army-green Landcruisers. After an initial security check, we made our way to an attractive conference center. President Kagame appeared some moments later. For almost 2 hours he entertained questions from our delegation on a variety of topics ranging from his leadership influences, to his views on China-Africa partnerships. I was blown away by his humility, intelligence, and vision for Rwanda. At the end of the discussion, Professor Wells teed up our basket presentation, after delivering a gift from HBS: “Mr. President, the last gift we have for you is perhaps the most important. This is a gift from your people, specifically from a group of Rwandan women who are working to lift themselves out of poverty. I call on Tawanda to present it to you.” Nervously, I grabbed the microphone and explained the origins of the basket and how the women of Covanya would be very happy if I took a picture with him accepting the basket. The president stood up immediately and ushered me towards him for the photo opportunity. And voila! Definitely a surreal moment – a moment that was realized because of Covanya and the great work Indego has been doing with the women there.

- Tawanda Sibanda, HBS 2011

To Profit or Not to Profit?

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it will forgo a "normal" profit for the sale of a malaria vaccine it is currently testing and will instead limit itself to "about" a 5% profit.

Why not give the drug away? Well, it's costly to produce new medicines and Glaxo wants to recoup expenses. But GSK Chief Executive Andrew Witty argues that companies need an incentive to work in this field (tropical diseases or diseases of the poor) and that a small profit margin provides the needed incentive. Whether a 5% profit is enough of an incentive to get more companies to work in this area is an open question (though the potential of damage to what economists call "reputational capital" might well convince other drug companies to follow the GSK lead).

If field trials, which are being conducted now in Africa are successful, GSK will have the first malaria vaccine. Given that millions of people suffer from this disease, the drug has the potential to make an enormous difference in terms of human well-being (not to mention productivity for Africans and others). It also has the potential to make GSK a pretty penny, but less pretty than it might otherwise be. Witty says he'd like to see developed countries band together to buy the vaccine in large numbers for poorer countries: this might further lower costs--buying in very large volume should mean additional price discounts for the vaccine.

GSK, this story reports, is also opening up some of its laboratories to academic researchers. This kind of partnership should lead to further innovation and hopefully, more creative approaches to dealing with neglected diseases.

(The photo of the malaria mosquito is from the West Baton Rouge Parish website).

- Karol

The Women of Cocoki Support Haiti

One of the most extraordinary aspects of working in a globalized world at the grassroots level is how easy it is to forget that our partners in Rwanda are equally touched by the global media and eager to contribute to the alleviation of suffering.

The recent earthquake in Haiti has a special connection to Rwanda because of Paul Farmer’s Partners in Health, which started in Haiti before setting up shop in Rwanda’s north. PIH was quick to set up a benefit event for Haiti at a local restaurant. The benefit includes items donated for an auction to benefit the quake victims.

One of the organizers came to Indego asking if we would be willing to donate products for the auction. Given that the products are produced by our partner cooperatives, not us, we took the idea to them—it also seemed like a double gain in that the cooperative would get free publicity for their local market.

When we mentioned the earthquake, all of the women had heard about it. Amazing the power of globalized radio programming. We described the idea of an auction and how the proceeds would be going to benefit the survivors of the quake.

Our team was imagining that they would donate a few of their best-selling items as a strategic publicity move. We were blown away when they emerged from their stock room with their arms full of their most popular products—yoga bag, apron, oven mit, computer case, sling bag, wine bags, coffee bags, coasters and even sports bags. A few items is publicity, this could be described only as generosity.

For the women of Cocoki these products are their livelihood. The sales they make are how they feed their families. Yesterday they reached beyond their own needs to contribute to assist victims half a world away.

- Amity

Kagame's Influence

The Financial Times recently named Rwandan President Paul Kagame one of the 50 most influential people of the past decade.

He is named with an ecletic list that includes Mo Ibrahim, Beyonce, and the founders of Twitter. To access the Financial Times article you need to register with the paper. Or, you can find a related article on this story here.

President Kagame has his share of critics, primarily from the human rights community. As the Financial Times notes, he rules in the style of an East Asian leader, such as Singapore's Lee Kwan Yew (less regard for civil and political liberties, more for economic freedom and growth). Supporters point to his ability to largely keep the peace in his country and to rebuild an economy shattered by the 1994 genocide. He has also created an elaborate plan to move the country from low to middle-income status by 2020. The country's efforts to lessen poverty and create opportunity for many has, the editors argue, been an inspiration for other nations.

Critical of many foreign aid efforts, President Kagame routinely advocates "trade not aid." As the story from The East African notes: "His vision is not only to produce a stable Rwanda but a competitive, productive African continent, a phrase he continually reiterates."

That vision is important: a competitive, productive Africa will mean economic growth and prosperity for more of the world's bottom billion, millions of whom live in Africa.

- Karol

Launch of Indego Africa Micro-Documentary

"The Color of Indego Africa: Empowering Women in Rwanda"

This video was shot and produced by the innovative new social change video platform Nomadsland, a "new destination built by nomads - professionals who have spent much of their lives traversing the globe – gathering, recording and sharing in our collective human experience." They are "video producers, filmmakers, activists, nonprofit staffers and social entrepreneurs who are joining forces to curate, create and distribute visual media that raises awareness and support of worthwhile international projects and important global issues."

Indego Africa extends to Nomadsland our deepest and most sincere thank you for this video. We believe strongly in their innovative mission of joining forces with social entrepreneurs and nonprofits to curate, create and distribute visual media that tells inspiring stories in the age of Web 3.0. Please take a moment to explore the Nomadsland website (http://www.nomadsland.com/). This is a crucial platform for spreading the stories of organizations and people driving social impact and social change. And, beyond its interactive video player, Nomadsland is also leading the field in affordable production, great storytelling, and cutting-edge cinematography.

Please re-tweet, comment, Facebook, blog, email, telegraph, carrier pigeon, or otherwise SHARE this video and the Nomadsland story!

- Ben

Abod: Housing South Africa's Poor

Given recent news out of Africa I was beginning to think that I'd have to write a story about either cricket or soccer and no one wants that.

Fortunately, I opened my email and found the perfect story: successful entrepreneur confronts a whopping challenge and develops a creative, beautiful solution.

Whopping challenge: better housing for South Africa's poor. Largely as a result of apartheid-era policies there is a huge shortage of formal housing so millions of poor South Africans live in shacks in informal settlements on the outskirts of cities. The ANC governments of the past 15 years have tried to address the complex problems of housing the poor with only limited success.

One thing the governments have done is build something called RDP houses -- more than a million of them. But lots of people hate these poor quality houses and actually leave them to return to informal settlements (I've written about this here).

Greg Sharp of BSB Design in Des Moines, a successful architecture firm, was asked by a South African minister if he could help address the country's acute housing shortage. His company dove into the problem, interviewed local people and came up with Abod -- a low cost, low mainteance house that even someone like me could probably up together. Can't tell how many have been shipped to South Africa so far (doesn't seem like many) so I'm not sure if it's a truly scalable project or not. But, it certainly is lovely one.

- Karol

HBS Immersion Experience Program & Indego Africa

As part of Harvard Business School's Immersion Experience Program (IXP), Indego Africa is honored to welcome a fantastic team of HBS students and professors to Kigali for a ten-day visit to work with our staff, interns, and the women at our partner cooperatives. The students (Tawanda Sibanda, LaToya Stallworth, and Jacqueline Sandberg) and professors arrived in Rwanda last week where, among other things, they are helping Indego Africa further develop local market strategies, conduct product market research, refine the business skills curriculum, and advise on the women’s entrepreneurship projects.

The program has already been an incredible success. Last week the women at Cocoki even prepared and executed a presentation for the IXP team entirely in English! Tawanda writes:

What has become clearer to me over the past week or so, is that Indego is really about empowerment, both of the women in the cooperatives and the interns from Orphans of Rwanda who deliver the training.

These women have large families and demanding responsibilities. In my visit, I have been impressed by the skills the women have acquired through the Indego training programs, and more importantly, the sense of confidence and POWER the women posses as a result. They understand profit and cost, marketing and distribution, basic book-keeping, and even some English.

Largely due to the committed trainers and staff at Indego, these women are tough, independent business people who can analyze new business opportunities, and discern would be exploiters.

The interns have been equally impressive. Having visited the genocide museum with our group, I can only imagine what horrible stories lie behind their smiles. Nevertheless, they are focused and ambitious. At Amity's dinner we all shared our career hopes, and all the interns had big dreams: from running accounting firms, to starting agribusinesses and banks. Rwanda, watch out for this group!

- Ben

(Photo is of Jacqueline's marketing and global commerce presentation.)

Local Solutions for Local Problems

I ran across this article about an entrepreneurial project that promotes clean energy use in poor neighborhoods in Cairo. Here's an older NPR story about the same project and another from National Geographic (ok, I'm obviously late to this story, nonetheless. . . ).

The basic idea is to find local solutions for a local problem. The problem is that Cairo's poor have erratic energy supplies. Social entrepreneurs Thomas and Sybille Culhane partner with local people to build solar-powered hot water heaters and biogas generators that use kitchen and other waste to make gas for cooking, using recycled local materials. Because the devices are installed at a home, the problem of erratic supply is solved (so long as the machines work, the sun shines, and people generate waste).

The local solution is that local people -- a pipe cutter, or welder, or maybe a carpenter -- help design and build the devices. The water heater, for example, is typically installed on a roof top. Local knowledge of what a rooftop can bear or what materials are easily and cheaply available helps make the project more sustainable (though I note that the project has received funding from USAID).

You can learn more about the Culhanes' project, Solar CITIES, at their blog.

If you're visiting Cairo you can even check out a Solar CITIES tour.

Right now, the Egyptian government heavily subsidizes gas and electricity purchases, so it's not especially sensible for the poor to invest in building the heaters and the generators BUT as subsidies are phased out over the next few years the incentive to invest (if not the ability to access credit) will shift and this might turn into a for-profit venture. People respond to incentives and they will happily turn to clean energy when it becomes a cost-effective alternative to more traditional energy sources.

(Photo is from http://www.insideurbangreen.org/2009/03/bench-subirrigation-on-a-cairo-rooftop.html).

- Karol

A Social Enterprise Approach to Corporate Responsibility

A wonderfully thorough article about how Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, a global law firm, changed my life and upended the traditional conception of how large corporations and social entrepreneurs can, together, drive social change.

"GC of Nonprofit for Rwandan Entrepreneurs Continues as Orrick Associate," The Recorder / Law.com, Amanda Royal (Jan. 4, 2010).

- Ben

Verifiable Social Impact

There are a number of ways to measure the social impact of so-called development programs. In the traditional aid industry, the metrics are too often dollars spent and number of program participants. For the commercial handicraft sector, the metrics may simply be the number of artisans employed and the company's annual sales (if they even tell you how much the artisans are paid). Indego Africa tracks all of these metrics, as they're relatively good indicators of social impact. Since its first partnerships began in mid-2007, Indego Africa has generated $30,000+ in handicraft sales revenue for more than 150 Rwandan women and their approximately 600 dependents, conducted hundreds of hours of skills training programs, and proved that African women are capable of anything when given an opportunity.

Yet these metrics leave something to be desired. What is the depth of impact on a program participant's life? Did the income generated lead to positive change in their lives? (Or was it even the income or program that led to the change?) To better verify its social impact, Indego Africa has an extensive Social Impact Assessment Program that measures a range of developmental information, both quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (interviews). Please take a moment to review our new Social Impact webpage and 2009 Social Impact Report to get an idea of how we measure the success (or failure) of our programs. In addition to quantitative metrics (see below), we also let the women tell their own stories of how Indego Africa is changing their lives:

New Social Impact Webpage

For a snapshot of some of the impact Indego Africa has made in only one year, here are some key findings:

• Enhanced Quality of Life ~ 585% increase in the number of women who are satisfied/very satisfied with their quality of life.
• Increased Income ~ 336% increase in the number of women earning more than $1 per day.
• Greater Food Security ~ 96% increase in the number of families eating at least twice per day.
• Higher Child Education Rate ~ 17% increase in the number of women reporting some or all of their children attend school.
• Better Housing Conditions ~ 42% reduction in the number of women with no permanent residence and 26% increase in the number of households with beds for all residents.
• More Bank Accounts ~ 153% increase in bank account ownership.
• Better Access to Communication ~ 138% increase in the number of households with a telephone.

Biofuel vs. Food Crops: Who Decides?

What happens when a poor farmer discovers that the seed of a previously useless plant can be sold and then processed for biofuel? The farmer shouts "hooray;" the farmer's family shouts "hooray;" the government shouts "what a minute!" This is the basic plot of this story from Tanzania, reported by the BBC.

The seed in question is jatropha, which can be crushed into oil and used for everything from jet fuel to candles. Jatropha grows wild in rural Tanzania and is an extremely hardy crop: it's both drought and pest resistant and can withstand conditions that other plants can not tolerate.

After some enterprising children began selling jatropha seeds, adults in Tanzania followed suit, gathering the seeds and selling them to a biofuel processor called Diligent. Diligent is one of many companies in the US, Brazil, and the Phillipines, that is excited about the seed. In fact, early in 2009 Time magazine has asked: "Is jatropha `The Next Big Biofuel?'"

Maybe. But the BBC report notes that the Tanzanian government is worried that jatropha may be something of a curse, as well as a blessing. Here's a quote from the BBC:

"But here is the rub. The government is facing complaints that food production is being threatened because so many farmers are focusing on jatropha rather than edible crops. And that's something a poor country like Tanzania call ill afford."

Really? Farmers have found a valuable cash crop and now devote more of their land to growing that crop. This means less food is grown, this (presumably) raises prices for food crops. At the same time, farmers have higher disposable income because they're growing, and selling, jatropha. They can better afford more expensive food crops. But importantly, as food prices rise this signals the farmers to return to food crop production to take advantage of the profit opportunities offered there. As food production increases, supply increases and prices fall again.

Shifting prices are signaling farmers to grow jatropha; tomorrow, prices may signal farmers to grow tomatoes. Farmers are behaving entrepreneurially right now and that's something to be applauded. They may even be providing an environmental benefit to Tanzania (if the crop is drought and pest resistant presumably it can be grown without most pesticides and energy use related to irrigation will be slight).

So, should the government be concerned that too many farmers are foregoing food production to focus on jatropha? No, not so long as food producers inside and outside Tanzania are able to transport their crops safely and inexpensively and sell them freely.

If the Tanzanian government wants to ensure food supplies for the country, it would do better to eliminate agricultural tariffs rather than limiting entrepreneurial behavior related to jatropha production. What the country can ill afford is less economic opportunity -- poor farmers should be free to decide which crops to plant.

- Karol

Kellogg School of Management & Indego Africa

Indego Africa is always honored to contribute to the vibrant conversations about social enterprise currently raging at academic institutions around the world. This past semester, for instance, we had the pleasure of participating in a project at the Kellogg School of Management.

As part of the class "Leading Mission Driven Enterprises," four incredibly talented Kellogg students - Kate Floyd, Erica Labovitz, Keli Leaf, and Shannen Root Chin - dug deep into the inner workings of Indego Africa. The assignment: conduct an analysis of a nonprofit to identify its current stage, and then provide recommendations on how it might advance along the stages and/or sustain the current stage. To accomplish this goal, the team conducted in-depth interviews with me, Matt, and Josh Lebowitz (Chair of the Chicago Board), and then poured over our policies, procedures, strategic plans, financials, marketing documents, and more. The result: a professional and insightful paper about Indego Africa that will help us pivot into the new year with even more focus and vigor. Thank you, Kellogg team!

Want to read the paper? Well, here you go:

"Indego Africa Life Stage Assessment," Leading Mission Driven Enterprises, Kellogg School of Management (Dec. 7, 2009)

- Ben

Blattman Asks: What Good is Aid?

Chris Blattman has an interesting post about aid's effectiveness. To summarize, he says that if we consider aid as a tool to improve health and mortality then surely it has been a success: witness the growing population in the developing world.

But rising population may help us understand why aid hasn't worked especially well to spur sustainable economic growth. Blattman points out that unless an economy industrializes (or discovers / extracts valuable natural resources), GDP won't bump up substantially. Even with newer and better technologies, a rise in the productivity of subsistence farmers will not be enough to raise these figures in a significant way. Industrialization, or a resource discovery, on the other hand, often will. Unless there's growth in manufacturing or service industries, a county with a growing population will not experience GDP per capita increases and may, in fact, experiences decreases.

To read this in the gloomiest neo-Malthusian light, aid that saves lives contributes to keeping the rest of a society poor. Unless, of course, aid helps a country to effectively industrialize, which it typically doesn't. Here's an article from the Miami Herald highlighting some of the problems of a rising population for families in Africa.

What to make of this? Blattman posted this as a very preliminary idea and welcomes feedback. I agree with his conclusion that on humanitarian grounds aid has been something of a success--though he doesn't pose the "what about compared to other, private-sector efforts by NGOs, etc.?" question. Whether traditional development aid could ever overcome its inherent problems and spur industrial growth is a very different question.

- Karol

One Laptop Per Child in Rwanda; 50,000 Programmers To Be?

The Economist reports here on the Rwandan government's efforts to get affordable and durable laptops into the hands of over a million children within the next few years. Here is a related story.

The goal is to create a cadre of tech savvy citizens who will help spark entrepreneurial activity and pull Rwanda into middle-income status by the year 2020. This is a hugely ambitious goal and it would be wonderful if the government is successful.

The experiment provides an interesting opportunity to consider trade-offs: the government will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy these computers which are being developed by the One Laptop per Child NGO. This money could, of course, be used to upgrade hospitals or build medical clinics in rural areas. It could be used to build irrigation systems, reclaim threatened natural habitats, or improve roads and bridges. Why buy computers; isn't that something of a luxury in a poor country?

In this case, the government has a target of training 50,000 computer programmers by 2020. The government might be making a good bet that thousands of computer programmers is what the country needs, but recognize that it is a bet. Maybe Rwandans would be better off learning agronomy for example, or finance.

Time will tell if this effort leads to the kinds of outcomes (talented computer programmers) that the government desires. Meanwhile, as the story in The Economist points out, small businesses will spring up around the country to repair the machines, and provide other related services. The children who have access to the computes will have the wonderful experience of active learning as a supplement to their traditional education. Who knows what cool ideas and businesses this will spark. . .

- Karol

(The photo is from the One Laptop per Child website).

MEGA Holiday Sale!

DON'T MISS THE MOST EMPOWERING FAIR TRADE SALE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!

Indego Africa is excited to offer up to 25% off of its world-renowned Rwandan handicrafts.*

Plus, for Social Enterprising readers, an additional $10 off on all purchases over $70 (just use the code IA-SUBSCRIBER-7010 at checkout).

Combine this with FREE SHIPPING on all purchases over $50, and you've got one amazing social enterprise deal!

SHOP NOW!

As always, 100% of the profits from handicraft sales go directly back to the artisans for our ground-breaking training programs in entrepreneurship, financial management, literacy and computers.

*Offer good only through December 19th. Must order by December 17th for products to arrive before Christmas via regular shipping (Dec. 19th for expedited shipping). Photo is of Esperance Mukanzi, a master weaver at Covanya.

Double Your Impact: New Gift Matching Campaign!

I'm proud to announce the launch of Indego Africa's 2009 Entrepreneurship Gift Matching Campaign! Through the generosity of several anonymous donors, every dollar up to $10,000 donated to Indego Africa by December 31 will be matched one-to-one and invested in the new Indego Africa Entrepreneurship Program (IAEP) in Rwanda. The IAEP strives to transform our cooperative partners into business-savvy and confident entrepreneurs through training in a range of skills, from business planning and accounting to pricing and marketing. If you've been considering a year-end donation, this is the perfect opportunity to both double your gift and launch a ground-breaking program.

Remarkable women are at the very foundation of Indego Africa. This Matching Campaign is inspired by the memory of Olga Mitro, my Grandmother, one of Indego Africa’s original and biggest supporters. While her story is similar to those of the women in our cooperatives (see below), as a hard-working and talented American, she had the opportunity to overcome her life’s obstacles. In her honor and with your help, Indego Africa will help deliver the same opportunities to women in Rwanda.

CLICK HERE TO INVEST IN INDEGO AFRICA

Thank you for your support!

- Matt

*Olga Mitro always found a way to share some of her meager income

to help support Indego Africa's activities. An entrepreneur in her own right, Olga was raised in the rural U.S. without electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing. She spent her childhood days fetching water for the family and attending a rudimentary one-room grammar school, even learning to sew on a manual foot-powered sewing machine (like those at Cocoki). At age 14, she was forced to drop out of school and find a job cooking for others in order to support her family. Her lifetime of hard work, sacrifice and determination eventually paid off for her own children and grandchildren who were able to go to college and lead very successful lives.

Rwanda: Looking Towards Westminster

News out of Rwanda of two interesting political developments.

First, the country has restored diplomatic ties with France. Relations frayed in 2006 when a French judge cited President Paul Kagame and other high ranking officials for being complicit in the assassination of former President Juvenal Habyarimana. As France retains a strong presence in Africa this is an important relationship. Economically, it may be useful for Rwanda to build on its own francophone tradition (at least since post-WW1) and try to provide services for the French market.

Second, in a move that may be irritating to the French, Rwanda joined the Commonwealth -- a group of former British colonies. With this addition, the Commonwealth now has 54 member states. Though many people in Rwanda speak French, Kagame is an Anglophone and has, over the past 15 years, moved the country away from reliance on France. This successful bid adds to the re-orientation of national priorities. Rwanda was not a shoe-in for the Commonwealth: there was concern over the country's human rights record. Here's another story talking about what these developments might mean: "the day the tiny central African nation came out of the diplomatic wilderness."

Btw, Gerard Prunier, author of Africa's World War and The Rwandan Crisis: History of a Genocide has an interesting interpretation of French responses to Mr. Kagame's pro-British stance in the latter book.

- Karol

Information Equals Empowerment

Providing the women at Indego Africa's partner cooperatives with international market information and product feedback is a critical piece to their success as independent businesswomen. With this in mind, we have developed a brief ten question survey about Indego Africa's product line and shopping experience. This survey will also help Indego Africa focus on areas for improvement and development.

Please take two minutes to share with us and the women your valuable feedback. Thank you!

CLICK HERE FOR SURVEY

- Sarah

Another Interesting Blog: AfriGadget

I've just found AfriGadget, whose by-line is "Solving everyday problems with African ingenuity."

The latest entry (at least when I'm writing this) discusses a product designed to deal with a common African problem: blackouts. The solution, from street vendors in Nairobi, is to take a used tin can, cut a couple of holes in it, attach batteries, wires, and a light bulb, add a metal handle so you can move the thing, et voila! Light.

Of course it would be great if Kenyans had regular and affordable electricity but, given that they don't, they can at least be thankful for local entrepreneurs coming to the rescue. In fact, this example strikes me as quintessential entrepreneurial behavior: alertness to an opportunity, ingenuity put to work to meet a need, some risk taking, followed by a voluntary exchange.

The juakali lamps are selling for approx. $2.50 -- no doubt less for locals.

- Karol

(photo is from the Afrigadget blog site).

Indego Africa at BU with Stephen Kinzer

This past Nov. 10, Matt and I had the pleasure of guest lecturing at "Rwanda: Past & Present," a class at Boston University's School of International Relations. The professor, Stephen Kinzer, is an award-winning foreign correspondent who has covered more than 50 countries on five continents. Kinzer's most recent book, A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It, is, as Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa called it, "a fascinating account of a near-miracle unfolding before our very eyes." On a personal note, I read A Thousand Hills right before I traveled to Rwanda for the first time. It was such an important component of my experience that, upon returning, I wrote Kinzer an email thanking him for his work, and we've been friends ever since.

The class - a mix of about 30 upper level university students and grad students - was truly impressive. They had been studying Rwanda all semester, so we quickly got down to business and covered a wide range of complex topics, including social enterprise business models, fair trade production and fulfillment logistics, Rwanda's efforts to encourage reconciliation, and so much more. The highlight was at the end of the evening when Prof. Kinzer helped the class prepare for their live telephonic conference with Rwanda's President, Paul Kagame, the following Monday. And apparently it went great! Check out the article and video: Rwanda's President Teleconferences with BU Seminar.

Thanks again to Prof. Kinzer and the class for such an enjoyable evening.

- Ben

Aid: What Really Works?

Are there generally applicable lessons about what works in terms of development assistance? Perhaps we're closing in on a few, as this article from The New York Times suggests.

Although different situations will likely call for different responses, there do seem to be some common features of successful development projects (ok, so "successful" is extremely difficult to define in this context--does it just mean no harm done? does it mean clearly identifiable and positive outcomes? does it mean increased respect for the donor nation? I recognize this and will now sidestep that issue):

• local participation and buy-in means you can tap into and use local knowledge and you likely get a greater sense of ownership over outcomes;
• direct payments avoid problems associated with working through a centralized ministry or the national treasury (there may be other problems, such as further empowering local elites, but the problem of "where did those millions go?" will be reduced)
• Maybe the bulk of projects should be smaller-scale with local oversight and direction
• Working on a 2 or 3 year development project time-frame is often misguided. Most projects take much longer to come to some kind of fruition.
  

The article talks about small-scale transfers of development assistance directly to rural communities in Afghanistan. Individuals, working through village councils, decide what they most need and are then directly involved in project management -- building schools or water purification systems or roads. Because locals are in charge of the money, they figure out how best to use the resources (they find ways to use resources efficiently because they directly benefit from any savings). So far, results are reported to be good.

This tracks my own research experiences in Africa. The development projects and programs that I see that do good on the ground tend to be small-scale, involve strong and meaningful local participation, and have a longer time horizon. Both commonsensical and deeply radical, this approach recognizes that empowering local people (poor and typically less educated) often works better than top-down planning by elites.

- Karol

(photo is of Kabul).

Social Enterprise is Personal

Meet Honoline (pink) and Jenny (yellow), two of Indego Africa’s resident fashionists. Honoline and Jenny love their stylish sunglasses almost as much as helping out at their mom’s tailoring cooperative, Cocoki. They are excellent teaching assistants—they enjoy drawing on the chalkboard during trainings and practicing their English skills. They also provide necessary feedback on product design and tailoring—the last dress their moms’ made for me to wear to Indego Africa’s Dec. 2 Ibirori celebration in NYC was definitely "nibyiza" (pretty) in their opinion. Working with women’s cooperatives means we naturally work with their children as well, and that can be one of the best parts of the job.

At Indego Africa we spend a lot of time focusing on the serious aspects of business and development in Rwanda. One thing we don’t talk about much is the deep personal connection we have with our partners. And that connection forms the heart of our programming. Our partners feel comfortable sharing their needs and questions with us because we take the time to listen and engage with them at every level. Both Jadot (my Rwandan colleague) and I can get our cooperative’s laughing—whether by clowning around with their kids or by doing light-hearted impressions of the ever intimidating ‘international clietele’ they are trying to imagine. So when its time to take on more serious topics, like unit pricing and cooperative management, we get the pleasure of no-holds barred participation from every woman—and her kids.

- Amity

Carrots or Sticks? How to Save a Giraffe

I love critters. So, this article in Smithsonian Magazine caught my eye. It's about an interesting conservation success story: the peralta giraffe, one of several subspecies, lives in the Sahel and in particular, in Niger. The peralta was on the verge of extinction as recently as 1996 when approximately 50 remained. (I love the author's choice of the word "galumph" to describe how giraffes move.)

In the past local people were in competition with the giraffes. People and animals were using the same resources. Both used trees--humans for heating and cooking and giraffes for food. Villagers planted beans to eat and giraffes like these also. So, for villagers giraffes were a nuisance -- an edible nuisance at that. Why should poor villagers leave trees for giraffes or otherwise make an effort to save them?

One answer might be this: the government of Niger outlawed tree cutting in the area where the giraffes live. People might leave trees alone because they'd face a legal penalty if they did so. But, as the story makes clear, villagers routinely ignored the law. Making a living was more important, and cutting wood to sell in cities was one way to earn some income.

Another answer might be that the government also prohibited hunting or poaching giraffes and imposed large fines for doing so. Unfortunately, this simply made giraffes even more of a pest than ever. As a Washington Post article on the same story points out, this made the giraffes "useless:" they compete with humans but humans were no longer able to hunt them for meat or sell their skins.

Some people might have been deterred by the larger fines associated with hunting giraffe, but I think the more likely explanation for the recovery is this: an NGO called, in English, Safeguard the Giraffes of Niger (ASGN in French), began a program that hopes to shift villagers' perceptions of giraffes from foe to friend. How? ASGN provides microloans to villagers who engage in giraffe-friendly behavior. It also encourages tourism related to giraffe viewing. The result is that villagers now appreciate the animals because the animals have brought development to them.

While this approach is not unique, it remains an important lesson for conservation efforts: people are much more likely to protect those things in which they have a direct interest.

- Karol

Indego Africa & Microfinance

Rwanda is saturated with microfinance institutions, yet, from the perspective of the women at our partner cooperatives, information is hard to come by. As a result, and in line with Indego Africa's commitment to enabling our partners to make confident, independent, and informed business decisions, we recently conducted a survey of seven microfinance programs and shared our findings with the women. The women then invited the three in which they were most interested to come to the cooperatives and present their programs.

Crammed five deep, the majority with only a banana leaf mat as protection from the cement floor, the women listened respectfully to each presentation. However, when the first representative concluded, Therese Mutekereze, cooperative president, leaned forward and peered at the young man over the top of her spectacles (pictured right). He may not have realized he was about to get an earful, but the rest of us did! Therese led the charge each time, but several other members jumped right in with their own questions—ranging from inquiries about interest rates and hidden costs to those focused on lending requirements for individuals and cooperatives.

When the day’s presentations concluded the women entered a lively discussion among themselves about the relative merits of the various programs and their problems with microfinance in general. The women expressed concern that certain institutions lent only to those who were friends of the loan officers, while others repayment periods were too short and interest rates too high. They also wondered whether their cooperative was ready to take out such a loan when they lacked an idea of how they would use the money and access to market information that would give them an idea of possible future profit. They came to the decision that microfinance is not for them at the moment, but that they would reconsider when they had better developed business ideas. We affirmed our commitment to assisting them to access better market information to help them understand their business and how to make it grow.

Increasing access to information, whether about local financial resources or their own cooperative sales, is a major part of Indego’s mission to achieve sustainable business development. It’s not our mission to make decisions for our cooperatives, but to give them access to the knowledge they need to make decisions for themselves.

- Amity

In NYC and want to learn more about Indego Africa and microfinance? Two great events next week:

MICROFINANCE & THE LAW: EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH INNOVATION, NYU Law, Monday, Nov. 16th, 6:00-7:30 (including speaker Ben Stone, Senior VP & GC).

MICROFINANCE: SOCIAL ENTERPRISE & THE LAW, Columbia Law School, Tuesday, Nov. 17th, 5:30-9:00 (including speaker Matt Mitro, Founder & President).

For more info, email ben.stone@indegoafrica.org.

Measuring Prosperity

Roger Bate of AEI has just published a new Development Policy Outlook. He discusses the very interesting question of how economists (and others) think about measuring prosperity.

Economists typically look to Gross Domestic Product, GDP, as a measure of how well or poorly a country is doing. But GDP measures the total value of goods and services produced in a country. Tallying the value of the stuff and the services the people within a country produce in a given year gives us some sense of what life is like in that place, but GDP is criticized as failing to capture important variables or values that enhance our lives. It is sometimes difficult for GDP to adequately account for changes in product quality or the value of certain unpriced amenities. For example, it doesn't really capture the sense of delight we have from being able to listen to hundreds of radio stations on-line or the value we attach to having a pristine wilderness area.

Part of the problem here is, of course, the subjective nature of the valuation of these kinds of things. I might really love the wilderness area; you might not care about that much at all, but love the idea of being able to listen to reggae whenever/wherever. The benefit of GDP is that it measures values that are captured in a reasonably objective form, i.e. market prices. The limitation is that it measures things in their money prices. If something doesn't have a money price it's tough to capture.

Roger's piece takes issue with a recent report by the French Commission on the Measurement of Economic and Social Progress and compares this report with the Legatum Institute's 2009 Prosperity Index.

Here's an excerpt:

"One of the most interesting, if unsurprising, findings of the Prosperity Index is that higher-income countries have diminishing returns to life satisfaction. . .this means that if you live in one of the poorest nations on earth, an increase in income is vitally important to improved prosperity, so driving growth is a critical ambition for those living in such regions. . .If the laws and norms of a country do not support entrepreneurial activity, growth will not occur."

So true.

- Karol

Photo is of Ane Muandahiro, 50, a master weaver at Covanya.

Artisan Interview: Thacienne Mukamuligo

Thacienne: My name is Mukamuligo Thacienne. I’m 52 years old. I have three children. I am a widow. I live in Nyagihunika in sector of Rusenyi and the district of Nyamata. I am part of Covanya cooperative.

Jadot (Indego Africa's Rwanda Program Coordinator): Can you share with us something about your life or anything you want?

T: My story is so long. Jadot, the way you see me as calm and quiet but I have a very long story. I have never seen in my life my mother. I have never known her. When you told us that your mother passed away I said probably you have had a chance to see her and know her but me I have never had such a chance. And when I got married then my husband went mad but I endured that. I didn’t want to leave him alone and people were like “That woman is like an animal. How can she stay with a crazy person?” But this was not the only problem. I had also another problem because every time I gave birth, my children died when they were very young. I had twelve children but now I have only three. And when genocide began, I told you my husband was crazy and even he didn’t want to flee so he was killed. Then I became a widow. I tell you that there is a time I felt my life was stopped because of his death. Though he was sick but I could still see him. I also lost children in genocide. I felt like I was dead inside but I was still living. I felt like I didn’t want to see other people. I felt like I wanted to be in a closed place where I couldn’t see other people. But because I had gone to school it helped me a bit. Though I was like mad but I had that knowledge I got from school so the RPF gave me a position in the local government. I worked at the lowest level up to the sector level and that’s where I got a chance to learn how to weave. You see, coming from Nyagihunika, it was a chance that I would not have had if I had not worked in the administration because they had chosen two people per sector (to be trained in weaving). So those who were trained were encouraged to form the weaving cooperatives so I decided I’ll never leave the cooperative. I had seen other women with whom we share a lot in our life so I felt very happy to be with other women. Caritas (the old president) used to tell us to go back to our villages but I said I will never leave this place. This is the town, this is where things are and where I became civilized and was able to make money. I used to keep my money in a hole in my house and the mice ate my money so because of being with others I was able to open a bank account and save my money at the bank. From the money we earn in the cooperative and the other money I make I save that money at my bank account so now I’m grateful to God and I thank God.

J: Can you tell me if there is something that you have benefited from the partnership between Indego and the cooperative on a personal level?

T: Oh, I’m very excited about the partnership. Haven’t I just told you because of working with Indego, I would have given up? I was here for a whole year without selling anything and I had kids to take care of at home. Though there are only three even those three they need to eat and have clothes. I had one I was paying for their school fees but when Indego came I was able to sell my products and save and I can tell you that I have been able to pay for the school fees and my child was able to go to secondary school. So I’m very happy and secure because of the partnership. My only wish is that we may have more orders so as we be able to get enough income.

J: Is there anything else you would like to share with us that you didn’t talk about?

T: The one wish I have in my life is to never see genocide in my life again because it affected me so much. Because as I told you, I had four siblings and they all died, even my dad, so I was left alone. I had no one in my life. I always considered my elder brother as my father but when he died I felt bad and I felt everything was over. So when I’m at the cooperative I just feel better. I didn’t tell you that I have three grandchildren whom I live with. Even when those children cry I just tell my daughters to comfort them because I don’t like to hear children crying. I have a wound inside me so when I hear them crying, it hurts me. So I just like to be calm and to be in a peaceful place. Even here, when there are some disputes I don’t feel good. I just like it when we are all laughing and all having fun. So that’s my life. Thank you very much.

September 2009

Hearts & Hands Market in Houston

The Indego Africa team is not one to miss a sales opportunity. Last week we participated as a vendor at the Hearts and Hands Market in Houston, probably the largest holiday market in the area. This was our second time attending and this time we put together an even more impressive display, including photo and video presentations of the women.

Our new sports bags and yoga bags were a particularly big hit but, as is often the case during the holiday season, customers bought nearly all the red Basket Ornaments that we had in stock. They're the perfect adornment to a Christmas tree and make great little gift boxes. I mentioned to every buyer that they're miniaturized versions of the larger Agaseke Basket, which is traditionally made by women and given to couples at their wedding.

The Market ended on a special note. One woman who bought an Agaseke Basket last year asked: “Do you take customer testimonials?” She then told us that she'd given the basket to her daughter, with no particular intentions and only the knowledge that Rwandan women give them for weddings. Within one year of the gift, her daughter met and married her husband.

- Matt

Government Policies and Famine in Africa

The BBC reports on the growing threat of widespread famine in Ethiopia and throughout the Horn of Africa.

The story is both familiar and deeply sad: millions of people once again face the possibility of starvation. Why? A part of the answer is that rains have been very bad for several years. Farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa rely on rains to grow their crops; few have irrigation systems so no rain means real hardship.

But we know that farmers in other parts of the world routinely face prolonged droughts yet they avoid famine and mass starvation (Australia comes to mind). In addition to the vagaries of weather, Ethiopian farmers also confront difficult man-made problems: debilitating policies implemented by their government. (For the sake of brevity I do not here address the real problems created by food aid programs -- see this Oxfam report for more on that.)

For example, the BBC story points out that the government owns the land in Ethiopia (people have use rights, not ownership rights) so individual families cannot sell their property and move to cities. Indeed, the government acts purposefully to limit migration to cities. Why? Having lots of folks in Addis Ababa might make it more difficult for the government to squelch protest and retain political power. The government may say it's concerned about "chaotic" urban growth, but when rural residents are prohibited from moving to urban centers they are also prohibited from seeking economic opportunities and making use of their entrepreneurial talents -- the very thing people should be free to do when they are no longer able to support themselves and their families by farming.

And when the government forbids the sale of land other ill consequences follow. First, families cannot reap the benefit of one of the major assets they hold (they are thus forced to sell other property-- livestock, etc. to get at least some cash to support themselves). Second, families have to continually subdivide a family plot into smaller and smaller pieces so that adult children can take care of themselves somehow -- this directly leads to environmental degradation and reduced crop yields which, of course, intensifies the problems of hunger. And finally, if sales are forbidden efficient farmers are not allowed to buy property and build larger and perhaps more productive farms that might produce more and feed more.

Forcing people to remain smallholder farmers, denying them the possibility of economic advancement and entrepreneurial opportunities in cities and pushing them, out of necessity, to ruin the land through subdivision is the result of government policies; it is not the result of weather. What the Ethiopians desperately need, in addition to food in the short term, is policy reform for the long-term.

- Karol

Sustainable Businesses & Human Capital: The New Aid Model?

Reuter's Africa Blog recently posted a story discussing what is labeled as a "new" aid model: a project in Ethiopia that pays young women to work. The pay is quite small, but women involved in this project actually do something of value, learn some skills, and earn enough to pay for a few things they desire (such as classes in night school).

The blog entry points out: "the whole point isn’t to hand out money for free: but to help women who would be on the street get a job, an education - and a future."

I readily admit that I'm dismayed that this seems like a new insight. Encouraging and supporting opportunities for people in the developing world to create sustainable businesses and strengthen their human capital should be at the heart of development efforts. This is the strategy Indego Africa adopts. Cooperative members are partners who co-create greater prosperity together with Indego staff and volunteers, and US consumers.

This is also the approach taken by the US African Development Foundation, a small US aid agency that focuses on supporting poor and marginalized communities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Created in 1980, USADF provides relatively small-scale grants (no more than $25o,000) directly to Africans who are creating and running businesses or solving social problems in their countries. The agency focuses on "support[ing] African-designed and African-driven solutions that address grassroots economic and social problems." Here is a recent brochure describing the agency's mission, its priorities (which include increasing efficiency, working directly with local people in a participatory manner, tracking outcomes, and operating transparently), and the scope of its involvement in SSA.

In some interesting ways USADF's priorities mirror Indego's: empower local people by supporting the creation of financial and socially sustainable businesses. And while the USADF model is not new it surely is not the norm among official development agencies - but maybe it should be!

- Karol

The women in the photo are sorting coffee beans in Kigali -- I took this photo back in 2007.

Confidence & Computer Exams

Sometimes it's the simple things. Consider last week's Computer Training exam at Cocoki and Covanya:

1. Plug in the computer and switch it on.

2. Open Microsoft Word.

3. Write the following sentence: "Students are going to school"

4. Put the above sentence in:
a) Font size: 26
b) Bold
c) Italic
d) Underline
e) Font color: yellow
5. Save your work in "My Documents" and call it your name.

For avid computer users, these are simple tasks. But to a woman who has heard about computers, but only recently seen and touched one in person, these are empowering steps to independence and self-confidence.

The women particularly love their newfound ability to save documents. With a more reliable way to record their thoughts (in addition to the new literacy training programs) a number of the women have apparently taken to writing short stories. Hopefully we'll get one up on Social Enterprising soon!

- Ben

Photo is Mediatrice Mukarugamba, 43, of Covanya in Nyamata, Rwanda.

Notes from the Field: A Defining Moment of Independence

Until recently, Indego Africa’s cooperative partners, Cocoki and Covanya, had never sold their handicrafts publically in the local market. Instead, orders have always been picked up at the cooperatives by Indego Africa and shipped to the United States. But this Friday, at the U.S. Embassy Holiday Craft Fair here in Rwanda, everything changed.

The cooperatives were in full preparation mode in the weeks leading up the fair. Cocoki’s foot-powered sewing machines whirred as they raced to produce the right balance of products. Rows of women lined the floor at Covanya weaving and individually signing their brightly colored baskets. The women also requested that, in addition to the scheduled classes, Indego Africa lead extra Hand Up training sessions on business English, product pricing and accounting.

When the day finally came to go to the crafts fair, the women were ready and anxious to start selling. Even though they were armed with new business knowledge, they were still somewhat unsure of themselves with their limited use of the English language and not knowing if their products would sell.

As we all entered the fair, it was surprising to see that none of the other handicraft organizations were represented by the actual artisans. This kind of practice breeds dependency and is a stark contrast to Indego Africa’s mission to create independent and confident businesswomen. And the customers responded! While our competitors struggled, Covanya nearly cleared out their entire inventory of baskets, and Cocoki's biggest sellers were their yoga bags, coffee bags and laptop sleeves (also available on our SHOP). It was amazing to watch their confidence grow as the day went on. Their English improved rapidly as they answered questions about pricing and styles. They handled the money, wrote out receipts, and even balanced their receipt books against their cash drawer to make sure they matched at the end of the day.

This was a defining moment for these women and for Indego Africa. They were learning by doing and believing in their capabilities as independent businesswomen. As the number of products dwindled, Daphrose, a master weaver at Covanya, said through a huge smile, "This gives us courage!"

- Sarah

Photo (Amity, Jadot, Sarah, Daphrose, & Emelienne) is from an article about the craft fair in Rwanda's New Times.

Carrying Social Entrepreneurship to the Roof

Yup, Carol Schillios, a social entrepreneur in Edmonds, Washington, is living on top of her store, in a tent, and accompanied by her 22-year-old cat, until she gets 1 million folks involved in her cause: helping young girls in Mali's capital city, Bamako, to stop begging and to become businesswomen. She does this by providing the girls with an incentive to do something different.

Here's the story.

Ms. Schillios runs a shop in Edmonds called "Fabric of Life" that sells products made in Mali by young women. The store is part of an effort by the Schillios Development Foundation to connect the girls to overseas markets and, in the process, provide education, health training and a stable stipend/wage the women can rely upon. So far, 20 girls have graduated from the program.

This is a picture of bead work the girls produce -- from the SDF website.

- Karol

Aid Watch Interviews Paul Romer about Charter Cities

Aid Watch recently interviewed economist Paul Romer (pictured here) on his Charter Cities concept -- worth a read. Romer's idea is reminiscent of Hanseatic League cities . Or, for a contemporary example, it's something like the free zones of Dubai/United Arab Emirates.

So imagine a country like Malawi cedes or leases some land -- and some sovereignty -- and allows for the creation of a charter city run according to the laws and regulations of Singapore, or Brazil, or South Africa. These latter countries would have the legal authority to enforce the law in the city. Romer sees the experiment as potentially democracy building, again, one is reminded of medieveal charter cities in which citizens gradually gained both economic and political rights vis-a-vis feudal lords.

A couple of questions come to mind: what would the appropriate role for local law be in such cities? In other words, maybe importing law is a good idea, but maybe building on local rules is good also. Romer suggests that cities could adopt any mix of legal rules and norms they like; different arrangements would compete against each other and some systems would win out, as least as far as investors are concerned. Introducing more vigorous legal competition has the potential to be a real boon for the poor.

Nations would, presumably, cede or lease territory because they expect to garner a variety of benefits by doing so (increased revenue for the treasury, increased access to desirable goods and services, less benignly, increased opportunities for corruption?) but would the charter rules be enforced if the surrounding sovereign comes to see the city as imposing costs instead of benefits and decides that outside enforcement is no longer desirable? Would that trigger a military response? International arbitration? etc. That's not clear, but more innovative thinking about how to increase investment and opportunity in the developing world clearly is a good thing.

- Karol

Indego Africa and 400 Brides

Another day at the office... Last Monday I attended the Great Bridal Expo in New York City, "the premier national consumer bridal marketing event in the US." Upon arrival I was slapped with a "VIG" sticker (Very Important Groom - "wait, I'm not...") and unceremoniously escorted into a packed conference center with probably 400+ brides . Walking around, the few men among us nodded in silent and knowing recognition. Mercifully I was not in attendance to sample wedding cake, recruit DJs, find out what's hot in Tahiti, or (heaven help me) gape at the bridal gown runway show. I needed to convince prospective brides that Indego Africa handicrafts are the socially-conscious answer to: "What do I give as guest or bridal party favors at my wedding?"

It was an uphill battle. I fought alongside insistent brides seeking free tote bags and competed against slick representatives from wedding venues across New York City. But I think the Indego Africa message got through:

Our products give couples the chance to show their concern for making a difference and improving the lives of others, just as they begin their own lives together. With our wine coasters, for example, guests sitting down for dinner will immediately have something to chat about. And Indego Africa provides beautiful table cards with a personalized message for guests and an explanation of how their gift or favor is having an impact in an African community. It's a no-brainer for the modern couple.

Are you looking for wedding gifts or favors (or know someone else who is)? Let Indego Africa be an integral part of your wedding. Click the links for wedding products and wedding donations (in lieu of favors). Questions? Contact us!

- Matt

PS - photo is from a traditional Rwandan wedding dowery ceremony (or "dote").

The Ibrahim Index and Good Governance

Here's an interesting interview with cell phone entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim. Ibrahim started the Mo Ibrahim Foundation which has two flagship projects: the Ibrahim Prize and the Ibrahim Index.

The Prize is a huge cash award given to a democratically elected African leader who follows constitutional guidelines regarding term limits and who exemplifies excellence in leadership.

The Ibrahim Index, the latest version of which was released a few days ago, ranks African governments in terms of how good a job they do governing their citizens. The best governed countries in Africa, according to this Index? Mauritius, Cape Verde, the Seychelles Islands, Botswana and South Africa. Mauritius is a real star in Africa -- it is also the only African nation in the top 20 group of countries that makes it easy to Do Business.

As the Doing Business group point out: "economic activity requires good rules." What kinds of rules? Countries need rules about how business is conducted as well as rules about how the broader society functions (part of the governance equation). Growth and prosperity depend upon creating incentives to change rules from bad (predatory, inefficient, ineffective) to good (prosperity-enhancing, efficient, and broadly empowering).

The Prize and the Index, in their own ways, try to create a few such incentives -- by identifying and rewarding good behavior but also by analyzing what contributes to poor governance. And because the project is African-driven, it may have additional credibility in the minds of Africans and others.

- Karol