Indego Africa Rocks Chicago!

Less than four months ago I called my close friend Josh Lebowitz and said, "Josh, as you know, we at Indego Africa have organized Regional Boards in NYC and DC made up of an incredible cross-section of more than 60 talented professionals with a passion for Indego Africa's mission. These Boards do everything from planning events, to providing expert advice, to simply spreading the word to everyone they meet.  How would you like to recruit a Regional Board in Chicago and then throw an amazing event by, let's say . . . June?"  

Without hesitation, Josh responded: "Let's do this."

Four months later, as promised, Indego Africa's Chicago Regional Board - almost 30 people strong - hosted a wildly successful kick-off event in Chicago at the beautiful Mars Gallery in the West Loop.  Not only did the Board raise more than $9,000 for Indego Africa's training programs, but they also pulled off the kind of joyous and inspiring evening - filled with live jazz, tasty treats, and an abundance of excellent beverages - that left everyone with the knowledge that they were part of something truly special.  

To Josh, the Chicago Regional Board, and everyone who came out for a great night: THANK YOU!

For some great photos of the night, see the slideshow below:  

For a large version of the slideshow, CLICK HERE.

Special thank you to event photographer David Robert Elliot (www.davidrobertelliott.com) for donating his services!

- Ben

Interview with Mo Ibrahim

From the Next Billion blog, here's an interview with Mo Ibrahim, founder of CelTel, which is now Zain (Zain has recently partnered with Western Union to make it easier to send remittances, pay bills via cellphone, and top off phone cards).

I'm especially interested in his observation that cellphones help promote democracy and openness -- something we've seen repeatedly in more closed socieities over the past several years.

Also good to read this quote from Mr. Ibrahim: "Any business has social value, otherwise it is unethical."

For more on Mr. Ibrahim's foundation and its prize for excellence in African governance and leadership go here.

- Karol

Voice of America Interviews Matt Mitro

On February 12, 2009, Jackson Mvunganyi, the host of Upfront on Voice of America Radio, conduced an in-depth interview with Matt Mitro, the Founder & President of Indego Africa.  You can now listen to the full interview on Upfront's fantastic blog (HERE).  Or simply click on the widget below!

Thanks Jackson! 

Leveraging the African Diaspora

US AID has partnered with Western Union and and EcoBank to provide funding and technical assistance to members of the African diaspora who are based in the US but who want to build small businesses in their home countries. Loans are relatively small -- between $50,000 and $100,000 and there is a requirement to have a local partner. To see details go here.

The idea is that members of the diaspora have a variety of capital -- human and otherwise -- as well as valuable local knowledge that they can put to effective use back at home to strengthen markets, create goods and services, and jobs. Presumably, US AID believes these folks need an extra incentive to do this work in their home countries and the grants serve that function.

This attention to the role entrepreneurs can play in improving economic conditions in Africa is encouraging and the model (from the information we have so far) is an interesting one. Hopefully, it will work better than some past aid efforts.

- Karol

Presentation at the World Affairs Council

On June 11, Tom and I gave a presentation to the World Affairs Council of Houston regarding Indego Africa and how it symbolizes Houston's connection to Africa. It's easy to forget, as we focus intensely on our work, how enthusiastically people receive and grasp the concept of social enterprise. We're always astounded by the turn-out and passion at events such as these. Houston is a commercial capital and, like many of the people we speak with, Houstonians respond to the hybrid business/social development approach that Indego Africa uses. We fielded a lot of questions about when the Rwanda women might start their own businesses and how they (the audience) could get our products into local stores.

Keep your questions and comments on Indego Africa coming. It's how we help ensure that our model is tested and best-in-class, which means we're serving our partners as well as we can.

- Matt

Robots to the Rescue?

The last time I was in Kigali a small earthquake hit the western part of the country. I was asleep at the time, but when I realized what was happening I thought about how to get out of my room and into the courtyard if I needed to. I didn't. It was just a tremor and everything was fine.

But what if it's not? What if you're in Kigali in one of the thousands of mud brick homes in the city when a more serious quake strikes? If you get caught in the rubble you'll hope that someone finds you. You might be lucky and be found quickly but in these kinds of situations many people aren't lucky.

Which is why this story is so cool. Imagine how many other ways robots could be used in humanitarian situations . . . wouldn't it great to have them put out the gas fires? Or what about delivering water or emergency medicines to people who are trapped (until rescue workers can get to them)? Scientists meet the humanitarians. . . of course, lots of scientists are humanitarians, but seeing how some of their work applies directly to aid efforts makes the connection clear.

The photo--from the first story-- is of a mini-helicopter fitted out with a surveillance camera.

- Karol

Financial Times on Social Enterprise

Brief article this past Sunday in the Financial Times entitled: The Rise of Social Enterprise.  The author, Chip Feiss, writes: "Social enterprise is not meant to replace the other sectors but is another way of dealing with common social problems that have not been successfully addressed to date. Is it possible? When history collides with motivation and opportunity anything is possible."  Sounds good to me.  Hope the Financial Times continues to explore this exciting topic.

- Ben

Schwab Foundation's Africa Social Entrepreneurs Awards

Back on May 21st, I wrote about David Kuria's business Ecotact, which supplies toilet malls in the huge informal settlement of Kibera in Nairobi.

On Wednesday, Mr. Kuria was one of three winners of the Schwab Foundation's Africa Regional Social Enterpreneurs of 2009.  Ecotact was recognized for providing needed social services that the municipal government hasn't been able, for whatever reason, to get into these areas and for running an information campaign on hygiene and water conservation.

The other winners were the group mothers2mothers, which educates, mentors and supports HIV positive pregnant women and new moms; and, Streetwires, which is working to formalize the bead and wire work business in South Africa.  The company's goal to is raise the income for artists by cooperatively marketing their art work to local and international markets. Streewires is also the first fair-trade certified craft organization in South Africa.  Here's another company that does similar work: aaart.

These social entrepreneurs are addressing a variety of problems--job creation, sanitation, health care--all creatively, all in tough circumstances.  Imagine what they could do if the institutions they depend upon were stronger?

- Karol

The Economist on Entrepreneurship

Here's a special report from The Economist on the rise of interest in entrepreneurship. This multi-part report includes a section on social entrepreneurship. The opening material points out that the growing interest is fed in part by myriad programs at universities as well as by inspiring personal examples such as "business hero" Oprah Winfrey (nice to read this: entrepreneurs are often vilified: sometimes rightly, too often inappropriately).

Economist Joseph Schumpeter called the entrepreneurial process creative destruction: the entrepreneur identifies a new product or service or figures out how to provide an existing product or service more quickly, more cheaply, otherwise more easily. The Economist suggests this is something of a misnomer: entrepreneurs are really involved in creative creation.

Either way, more and more people involved in international development recognize that the entrepreneur can be a kind of hero: someone who seizes opportunities, innovates, is a great problem solver, takes risks, and brings desirable products to market. These are special skills and not everyone has them (I certainly don't).

If the theme is appealing you might like this essay which was written by Candace Allen and published by the Dallas Fed. On a different note, this blog post poses the question "is every African Entrepreneur a Social Entrepreneur?" and suggests that African entrepreneurs have a different sense of "society" than do western (presumably Asian?) entrepreneurs, hhhmmm. Hope you enjoy.

- Karol

ToughStuff Solar Panels and Indego Africa

This past March I attended a social enterprise conference at Harvard Business School (blog post HERE) and met a young entrepreneur - Nick Sowen - who works with ToughStuff International, a fantastic social enterprise that provides inexpensive solar powered products to low income consumers in developing countries to create social, financial and environmental returns.  Thanks to the profound generosity of ToughStuff, one month later I was traveling to Rwanda with a suitcase of personal-size solar panels, LED lamps, mobile phone connectors, radio connectors, and rechargeable battery packs!

The cooperatives and the Indego Africa team learned how to use the Toughstuff products together (so easy!), and by the end of each introduction the women were charging their cell phones with the sun's rays.  It was a pretty remarkable sight.  

Please take a moment to learn more about ToughStuff's innovative products, mission and model at www.toughstuffonline.org.  A couple photos of the women even made it onto ToughStuff's website (see full set below)!

- Ben

A Credit Bureau for Rwanda

Ok, I know I may be taxing some of you with my "importance of institutions" theme but I continue it here and, hopefully, will have your forbearance.

More specifically, I'll continue with the "law matters" theme. Strong contract rules, broadly inclusive property rights, rules against fraud, all of these are important to promote trade between willing partners. Ease of trade depends on other legal rules and institutions as well -- for example, when people are able to use their moveable property as collateral for loans this gives them another way to securitize credit which, in turn, increases the chance that lenders will supply them with the money they need to do business or meet emergency expenses.

Another legal tool that facilitates trade is the credit bureau. Credit bureaus are one of those institutions that people in the developed world take for granted. We are so used to having the benefits of these companies that we probably can't imagine what life would be like without them. Buying cars, appliances, large pieces of furniture, etc. would all be much more burdensome if vendors didn't have some way to check our credit histories quickly, easily, and cheaply.

So, I was excited to learn that Rwanda is going to get a credit bureau this year. As this news suggests, millions of people living in the developing world do not have access to credit bureaus, or have access to poorly functioning bureaus. The IFC and the World Bank have been supporting credit bureau creation for the past several years.

This change is potentially very good news for Rwandans: consumers will be able to build credit histories (though it remains to be seen if Rwanda is a large enough and wealthy enough market to support one or more private credit agencies). With a credit history on file with a dependable company, more Rwandan consumers will be able to buy the things they want without using so much collateral. Borrowing should become easier for poorer Rwandans who have less property to use as collateral (they can establish a credit history with the gas company and use that as evidence that they're a good credit risk). Vendors also benefit; they'll be able to sort good credit risks from poor ones.

Better enforcement of contract rules together with changes that permit some credit information sharing and that clarify lender/credit rights should help this new addition to the financial landscape make a positive difference in people's lives.

- Karol

Recycling and the Law in Africa

In cities throughout the developing world you'll find many people who make a living scouring trash heaps for recyclable materials. They sort through the garbage looking for cardboard, cotton, glass, or metal and they take what they find to recycling facilities where they're paid by the pound/kilo.

Now Hewlett-Packard and partners Empa and the Global Digital Solidarity Fund are working in South Africa to recycle the hazardous materials contained in electronics. Here's a story about these efforts from the Global Edition of the New York Times.

Interesting that in the nine months from February to November, 2008 19 people were employed at a facility in Cape Town (subsidized by HP & the SA government) that processed 60 tons of material and generated $14,000. Another plant is planned for Durban, South Africa, this one operating without subsidies, which indicates it's a potentially profit-making business.

As the story points out, more and more consumers in the developing world are using, and throwing away, electronic waste such as cellphones. Reusing this material makes good economic sense as well as good environmental sense. However, as the story also points out, this recycling model operates best when there is clear protection for workers and others against harms caused by using and disposing of these products. In countries where laws against personal injury or nuisance (or the civil law equivalent) don't exist or are not impartially enforced, or where worker safety regulations are non-existent, having such plants might generate a wide array of problems. This insight points out a critical concern in development: the role the law plays in creating a framework for economic growth. For more on this point see Kenneth Dam's book The Law-Growth Nexus.

In Africa and throughout the developing world, the creative talents of entrepreneurs will contribute most to economic growth when they are exercised within a secure legal framework.

- Karol

Bill Drayton of Ashoka on Social Enterprise

Want to hear one of the world's leading experts discuss social entreprise? Harvard Business School has a recent podcast (no. 145) in their IdeaCast series with Bill Drayton, founder and CEO of Ashoka. You can listen to it, or download it here.

"Path of the Products" Premieres!

This past April 2009 Indego Africa was honored to host four passionate supporters from Baton Rouge, Louisiana in Rwanda. The volunteers - Cynthia, Nikki, Drew, and Michelle - hit the ground running and didn't look back. They taught the women stretching techniques to prevent repetitive stress injuries; conducted english vocabulary sessions; spent one-on-one time recording the women's stories (Nikki, right); and received rave reviews for the premiere of their playful skit, "Path of the Products," which demonstrates how Indego Africa products make their way from Cocoki's workshop into your home.

"Seeing the faces of the women at Cocoki and Covanya light up with curiosity and laughter was so rewarding," said Nikki. "It was an educational, humbling, and delightful encounter that has enriched my life."

Cynthia agreed: "Over the past 2 years I have read about Indego from the website, personally ordered products from my home in Louisiana, heard about the program from my husband who is a board member, and shared with others about the women, the products and the cause. Now I can say that I have met and shared life with these incredible women who have been through so much adversity, yet work with pride and persistence for the sake of their families."

To laugh and learn with the women of Cocoki as they watch "Path of the Products," just click below!

Educating the women about global commerce is one of Indego Africa's highest priorities, and it always makes everyone smile. To learn more about Cocoki's first interaction with the Indego Africa website, CLICK HERE.

AND, to watch a short overview video about Cocoki, CLICK HERE!

- Ben