|
Founded in November 2006, Indego Africa Project is a ground-breaking social enterprise whose mission is to help Africans deliver themselves out of poverty by: - FAIR WAGES: Paying partner artisans a fair wage for their incredible handicrafts
- UNIQUE HANDICRAFTS: Marketing their handicrafts to socially-conscious consumers in developed countries, and
- DONATED PROFITS: Giving back 100% of profits, and other donations, to the artisans for social development programming that they select
Starting with its pilot program in Rwanda, Indego Africa is challenging outdated models of development (that encourage dependence on direct aid) and delivers to its partners a real stake in their own development. In contrast to past programs, our partners can claim that they have rightfully earned anything that we provide to them. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, donors are invited to INVEST in this exciting new model for change. Click DONATE NOW!   THE INDEGO AFRICA MODEL
The key structural innovation of Indego Africa is the coupling of revenue-generation with traditional development programs. This is accomplished through two core components:
- HANDICRAFT PROGRAM: Fair Trade & Ownership. Indego Africa starts by providing cooperatives of women in Rwanda with a fair trade wage for their artistically- and culturally-significant handicrafts. Indego Africa then arranges for transport and customs, establishes relationships with prominent retailers, and sells the products in export markets. After paying for expenses, Indego Africa gives back 100% of profits to the cooperatives through its Hand Up program, where the women help direct funds towards job training programs and capital projects that greatly improve their lives.
For more on Indego Africa’s Partner Communities, click here.
For more on Indego Africa’s Products, click here.
- HAND UP PROGRAM: Training & Transparency. Indego Africa’s innovative “Hand Up” development program aims to (a) safeguard and diversify its partners’ income-generating skills, and (b) transform partner cooperatives into durable community development institutions. Indego Africa arranges for workshops in both basic skills and high-value skills that are needed in the local economy. To educate its partners in the handicraft business, Indego Africa provides full disclosure on how the handicrafts are priced and sold as they move through the global market. Through such transparency, a new generation of entrepreneurs is created.
For more on the “Hand Up” program, click here.
AN OVERVIEW OF INDEGO AFRICA In this short video, Indego Africa founder Matt Mitro and Senior VP Ben Stone discuss how Indego Africa is breaking new ground in the fight against poverty.
To read more, click below to expand.
 Typical Street Scene, Rwanda Breaking the cycle of economic insecurity and intra-ethnic conflict in Africa is imperative, both for Africa and the rest of the world. People facing abject poverty are more likely to experience conflict: failure to resolve conflicts results in government institutions based on patronage, unstable investment climates and deficient infrastructure. Oxfam estimates that the cost of conflict on African development was approximately $300 billion between 1990 and 2005, equal to the total amount received in international aid during that period. Conflict in Africa impacts the rest of the world, whether by creating terrorist havens or limiting the prospects of foreign direct investment. The Indego Africa mission is to defeat economic insecurity and, when relevant, encourage the integration of post-conflict ethnic groups. In Rwanda, Indego Africa has partnered with over 80 genocide widows working in truly multi-ethnic cooperatives. Many of the women are without a husband, cope with HIV/AIDS, suffer from psychological trauma and lack any opportunity to earn a livable income. Some 80% of Rwandan women are in the workforce, the 5th highest rate in the world. For as little as $10, a hard-working Rwandan widow could send her child to school for three months. For many of them, even that small amount is beyond their reach. Over 75% of the women partnering with Indego Africa had previously earned income below $0.50 per day. This amount often must feed and house their entire family, which includes an average of five children and one other family member. This paucity of income has devastating effects. About 33% of Rwandans are under-nourished, 40% of Rwandan women cannot read and only 51% of children in Rwanda can attend school regularly. These women simply cannot afford to send children to school, feed a family three times per day, buy needed HIV/AIDS drugs and create a stable housing situation.
 An Indego Africa partner weaver Poverty is pandemic in Africa and the root causes of this problem are lack of opportunities, job skills and management skills. In Rwanda the symptoms of poverty are evident in the communities where Indego Africa works. The income necessary for basic essentials is not available because: (i) the local economy does not adequately reward the women’s artistic skills, (ii) no free training programs exist that also offer child care, and (iii) few community development organizations have the leadership and expertise necessary to offer sustainable earning strategies. Current microfinance research indicates that, when income is available to them, women manage it very effectively on behalf of their family’s interests. The problem is not work ethic or ambition; it is a simple issue of opportunity.
Indego Africa offers the possibility of a revolutionary life change by tackling the root causes of poverty. Connected with untapped markets for their products, Indego Africa partners can earn between $1.20 and $4.50 per day, many multiples of the typical Rwandan wage. This additional income alone provides each woman with the finances necessary for the basic sustenance upon which further development is predicated. Training offered in the Hand Up program achieves longer-term impact by improving the management skills of cooperatives – ensuring that they become community institutions and business models for entrepreneurial women – as well as by increasing the job skills of individuals. Through the benefits of economic cooperation, ethnic groups become more aware that their mutual success lies in moving beyond historical tensions. Finally, because Hand Up is funded by handicraft profits, the women are less dependent on Indego Africa and experience improved self-confidence.
Social enterprises are organizations that utilize market-based strategies to advance philanthropic missions, and represent an increasingly accepted and successful business model for tackling some of the world’s most pressing problems. Indego Africa is a prime example of such a social enterprise, successfully fusing philanthropic objectives (fair trade wages, increased computer access, and skills-based job training) with proven business principles and a comprehensive development approach. How is Indego Africa a Social Enterprise?
Anyone who wants to start a business is generally restricted to two distinct legal frameworks under which it must operate: (1) the “for-profit” corporate form, and (2) the “nonprofit” corporate form (referred to as an “NGO” in most developing countries). The dilemma is that sometimes the most efficient and sustainable economic development programs require aspects of both. For instance: - Income and Training: For-profit companies realize the commercial value of African handicrafts – and their purchases generate critical income – but such intermediaries rarely leave behind the technical and organizational expertise to ensure lasting development. Indego Africa operates like a for-profit, but closes the knowledge transfer gap.
- Long-Term Earning: Export markets for handicrafts may shift unexpectedly, making it difficult for a strictly for-profit company to continue supporting a community and thus devastating that community’s income predictability. As a non-profit, Indego Africa makes a long-term commitment to conferring income-generating skills.
- Commercial Opportunities: Job training serves the participants’ long-term interests but, in the absence of commercial opportunities, cannot assure that the skills learned translate into sustainable income. Because Indego Africa also markets and sells its partners' products, it delivers more than a traditional non-profit.
While registered as non-profit in the United States, Indego Africa utilizes a combination of commercial (for-profit) and social (non-profit) approaches. Its partners realize immediate income by accessing the export market and long-term income by building their portfolio of employable skills, accomplished at their direction and with their funds.
Indego Africa employs a number of process innovations that differentiate it from similar social enterprises. For example: - Full Transparency: Indego Africa takes an unusually transparent approach to its operations, from relations with partners to disclosure of impact results. All of its financial, legal and operational documents are available to the public on the Indego Africa website.
- Focus on Long-Term Income: Indego Africa takes a longer-term and more comprehensive approach to its partners’ future by emphasizing flexibility of skills in the face of inevitable market shifts.
- Legal & Development Reform: Through its relationship with the government and the commitment of its pro bono legal counsel, Indego Africa is uniquely placed to propose and advocate for legal initiatives in intellectual property and social enterprise legal frameworks that could encourage further innovative approaches to development.
- Cross-Cultural Respect: Partnering with Indego Africa requires a deeper buy-in from cooperatives because both parties depend upon each other for their success: Indego Africa requires revenue from its partners’ handicrafts and its partners rely on Indego Africa’s market connections and training programs. By definition, this relationship builds cross-cultural respect.
The Indego Africa Social Value Measurement Plan relies on a logic model and evaluation plan built with Point K tools from the Innovation Network, a leader in the field. These tools assess key impact indicators using various data collection methods, such as interviews, surveys and expert reviews. Indego Africa’s long-term desired outcomes are: - Quality of Life: Rwandan women and their families see an increase in living standards and education;
- Cooperative Expansion: Partner cooperatives become pillars of community development.
Indego Africa recently developed and administered the first baseline survey of its Rwandan partners. This survey measured variables such as income, number of dependent family members, education levels, housing conditions (plumbing, heat, sleeping arrangements, cooking conditions) and food intake. Indego Africa also invites fellow fair trade entities and NGOs to certify cooperatives’ payment practices, work environment and raw material sourcing. Such third-party review comprises a critical component of measuring the success of Indego Africa.
 Indego Africa wins the Skandalaris Award The Indego Africa business model has begun to attract attraction in major nationwide social entrepreneurship competitions. Indego Africa has won the 2008 Skandalaris Award for Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to this recognition, Indego Africa was also chosen as a semi-finalist in its 2008 Echoing Green Fellowship Competition from among nearly 1,500 applications. Echoing Green has consistently supported visionary leaders who have untested, smart ideas that deserve to be implemented. The Indego Africa business model is also of theoretical interest to academics. Please click below for two recent scholarly discussions of this business model:* *Academic papers re-published on this website with the permission of the authors, to whom Indego Africa would like to give particular thanks. |
ABOUT US 
