Ingenzi Knit Union

The Ingenzi Knit Union is a cooperative union comprised of 127 knitters drawn from four primary knitting cooperatives - Hope, Hosiana, Mpore Mama, and Susuruka. Receiving its national registration in October 2010, the Ingenzi Knit Union is the first and only cooperative union of its kind in Rwanda.

Indego Africa initially partnered with the Ingenzi Knit Union to produce a "Thousand Hills Cowl" (also known as a "Knit Hood") for Anthropologie's Fall 2010 Knitwear collection. The super-trendy Knit Hoods were featured in the New York Times Style Magazine and can be worn loosely as a cowl, closer to the neck as a scarf, or can be pulled over the head to act as a hood. Stay tuned as the Ingenzi Knit Union is currently in production on a knitwear loop for Anthropologie for Fall 2011.

Mpore Mama, Hosiana, and Hope are each located in Rwanda's capital city, Kigali, and Susuruka is located in the Bugesera District. The Ingenzi Knit Union works closely with Rwanda Knits, a U.S. based non-profit which provides hand-operated, American-made knitting machines, technical, and business training to low-income Rwandan women.

"We're all very excited about this," said Indego Africa CEO Matt Mitro in the Fall 2010 edition of VOGUE Knitting. " This is the co-op's first product in a national chain, and hopefully it will lead to other orders."