For the past two weeks I have had the privilege to lead a small delegation of Italian entrepreneurs involved in the Fair Trade business interested in meeting local business people in both Kenya and Rwanda

. Since Italy is a country that was built on the strength of small and medium enterprises, the connection was natural and invigorating. As we travelled across the Kenyan countryside all the way up to Lake Victoria and through the hilly Rwandan landscape, we came face to face with innovation, creativity and tenacity.

All those who hang on to the idea that Africa is a continent plagued by conflict, natural calamities and mismanagement will find themselves living in the past century. African economies are the new emerging market and a closer look at small and medium enterprises will reveal this exciting reality. Most of these companies work exclusively with women and directly benefit them. 

In Kenya we met with Lulu Works, a small business that processes Shea Nut from South Sudan into beauty products including body butter, hand cream and a lip balm. While Shea nut products from West Africa are fairly popular and already marketed throughout North America, Shea nut from East Africa is unique in its consistency, equally effective and still unknown. The company was started in collaboration with a handful of American aid workers that lived and worked for decades in South Sudan. Today the business is run by hundreds of South Sudan women and Kenyans who are directly linked to South Sudan.

Amani Ya Juu, literally meaning Peace from Above, is a training center for refugee women from East and Central Africa that come together to stitch colorful quilts, tablecloths, aprons, clothes and other household goods. The main laboratory and shipping center is in Nairobi with affiliates in both Rwanda and Burundi. By working together, women refugees have a chance to overcome their trauma, regain their sense of dignity despite being uprooted from their familiar environments, learn new skills and earn and a small income. Earlier this year Amani opened a retail location in the popular neighborhood of Adams Morgan in Washington D.C.

Kenana Knitters’ products are often sold at Christmas Fairs in Nairobi. But don’t be fooled. Their homespun, hand-knitted African animals and accessories make it also on the shelves of FAO Schwartz in the US, Harrods in London and all the way to Australia. Over 300 Kenyan women directly benefit from this self-sustaining enterprise and have the flexibility to work from their homes, bringing the final product back to the production center at their own convenience. The product is then checked for quality control and the women are paid per piece with bonuses shared equally at the end of the month.

Margaret and her husband started Pendeza Weaving over twenty years ago in their home on the outskirts of Kisumu, a city near Lake Victoria in Kenya. They work with a network of weavers to make handspun cotton bed covers, curtains, table cloths and scarves. Although they could use additional training in how to expand and further innovate their small business, their talent is evident and eager to take off.

Rwanda, a country that is growing at a rate of 7% yearly, offered the Italian delegation plenty of ideas ranging from an extraordinary collection of weaved products, including the iconic Peace Basket, to superb mountain coffee, art work with unique geometric patterns and fashionable derivatives like earrings, wallets and wooden sculptures.

Yes, transport cost to/from Africa remains high but the business potential is great and if more entrepreneurs turn to this continent for opportunity, the terms of trade will improve and so will the lives of millions of people.