Indego Africa is an innovative non-profit social enterprise – built on core values of transparency and good governance – that attacks systemic poverty by delivering access to export markets and job skills to African women. Indego Africa’s business model is simple yet powerful:
Sell their masterful fair trade contemporary accessories and home decor products at high-end retailers across the U.S. and on Indego Africa’s online store.
Pay the women a fair wage, including 50% in advance of production.
Harness local talent to teach the training programs with Generation Rwanda, an extraordinary NGO that provides university scholarships to Rwanda's top students.
Indego Africa provides opportunities for women in difficult circumstances to first meet their families’ basic needs, and then acquire skills that enhance long-term earning potential. Within five years of partnering with Indego Africa, each artisan cooperative should include the following:
WOMEN GENERATING SUSTAINABLE INCOME. Women consistently earn more than $2 per day through their own initiative and oversee households that are entirely free of hunger, inadequate housing, and school absenteeism.
WOMEN LEVERAGING VALUABLE LONG-TERM SKILLS. Women deploy new high-value skills to earn supplemental income in their own community – whether at a cooperative, another employer, or their own business.
WOMEN RUNNING PROFITABLE EXPORT BUSINESSES. Women manage cooperatives that are fiscally responsible, effective in product design and delivery, and dynamic contributors to the community – all while engaging the global export market on their own terms.
WOMEN FEELING HOPEFUL AND CONFIDENT. Women translate their experiences of financial success and increased productivity into a lasting sense of self-worth and pride, knowing that anything can be accomplished by working together with others and relying on their own strength.
By forging a strategy that validates and scales its mission, Indego Africa re-defines an outdated handicraft model of economic development and maps out a replicable blueprint for unleashing the power of women entrepreneurs in Africa.
VIDEO MESSAGE FROM OUR ARTISAN PARTNERS
Enjoy this personal message directly from Emelienne Nyiramana, one of Indego Africa's partner artisans who was accepted into the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative Entrepreneurship Program in Rwanda. Before partnering with Indego Africa in 2007, Emelienne and her colleagues at Cocoki made less than 25 cents a day carrying water. They now run a profitable, transparent, high-profile business partnering with major retail outlets, including iconic fashion designer Nicole Miller. THIS IS INDEGO AFRICA!
Population Served
Indego Africa partners with more than 250 remarkable women in Rwanda, many of whom cope with HIV/AIDS; suffer from psychological trauma; have little formal education; care for several children, including orphans from the Genocide in 1994; and are the sole providers for their households. Learn more about these inspirational women>>
Verifiable Social Impact
Indego Africa is uniquely committed to creating and measuring verifiable social impact. Learn more>>
