This is not rocket science. It is common sense, which is unfortunately not so common.
Entrepreneur Tal Dehtiar founded Oliberte, a shoe company doing business in Africa, sourcing materials from herders tending to free range animals (which, by the way, are the only kind in most African countries) and only working with factories who pay fair wages, provide benefits, and employ roughly half women. Why? Well, here are some of his reasons...
"...we believe Africa can compete on a global scale,” he says, “but it needs a chance. It doesn’t need handouts or a hand up. It needs people to start shaking hands and companies to start making deals to work in these countries."
“I’m not saying ours is a better way [than TOMS],” Dehtiar says, “but people just continue to give away stuff to Africa, and there’s no incentive for dependencies to end.”
With sales increasing 50 fold in just two years, hopefully this trendsetting will not only involve fashionable shoes, but also influence other entrepreneurs and get them thinking "Time for Africa" for their next business home.
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