Report from South Africa
Gonzalo Aramayo, MBAs Without Borders Volunteer, Project in South Africa 2008 (garamayo@hotmail.com)
On July 2008, Gonzalo started to work with three craft companies in South Africa; Streetwires (www.streetwires.co.za), Kunye (www.kunye.org), and Mielie (www.mielie.com). During his assignment, he has been helping these companies on different issues related to the business and marketing. He helped the owners and managers of these companies to draft their Marketing Strategy Plan that helped the companies to focus their businesses on the markets needs identifying their strengths and weakness. His activities included the review of the different systems, evaluate their consistency and accuracy, and advising on upgrades and changes. He advised the business on costing and pricing of the different product ranges and suggest changes and updates to their current websites.
It is a well-known fact that unemployment leads to numerous other social ills like crime, poverty and the hampering of community growth and development. South Africa has been striving to reduce unemployment for years, yet despite the new government’s efforts, the situation has not improved significantly since 1994. A few South African businesses like Streetwires, Kunye and Mielie, started to create job opportunities in the craft area, mixing innovation, creativity, marketing, and enthusiasm. The main objective of these companies is to create sustainable, meaningful long-term employment for as many unemployed and needy South Africans as possible. The companies provide craft artists with permanent employment, a sense of purpose, and access to resources such as skills training and personal development. This enables the artists to channel their natural creative abilities into rewarding and fulfilling work.
The dreams and wishes of hundreds of artist are behind these hand made products, the hope for a better future and prosperity is enclosed in each one of the raw materials (beads, wire, recycled tins, paper and plastic, and recalled fabrics) of the products, and that create a whole and wonderful product.
These visionaries are demonstrating that business can do amazing things…
Streetwires (www.streetwires.co.za)
Streetwires is based in the center of Cape Town. Streetwires started in 2000 with two artists and three founders. Streetwires is a business with a social mission that is, generate secure and sustainable employment for disadvantage people. The focus of this unique company is the production of high quality bead and wire products. The product range includes animals, creatures, key rings, gifts, and house ware. The company has 80 staff working at the studio/shop of Cape Town.
Streetwires introduced the idea of producing wire and bead products and has generated a growing industry using the core tenets of upliftment, sustainability and innovation as their guide. Streetwires is seeking to bringing their diverse skills together and working to build its future and the future of South Africa.
Streetwires currently exports to 15 countries and supplies several large retailers and established corporate companies domestically and internationally. Streetwire art, unique to Southern Africa and largely unavailable beyond the borders, is a living testimony to the industriousness and creative spirit of their people. Born in the shanty towns and dusty back roads and baptized on the streets, today this genre is a thriving and legitimate art form in its own right, with many ‘wiremasters’ making a living selling their creations not only on street corners and at craft markets, but also in upmarket shops and galleries around the world.
Like their people, each hand-crafted piece is special in its own way, and each one has its own story to tell, while the scope for training, development and upliftment is enormous. In addition, most wire art lends itself readily to being branded, thereby increasing the appeal of these products for promotional purposes and corporate gifts, an area that Streetwires has pioneered.
Kunye (www.kunye.org)
Kunye is based in Cape Town and was started in 1995 by Alison Coutras as a personal contribution to combating unemployment. Kunye is Xhosa (South Africa native language) for “forward together” and communicates happiness and joy in doing things together. Alison’s training in landscape design and environmental resource management made her acutely aware of sustainability and the need to protect the environment.
Kunye trains and provides work to groups and individuals who handcraft products, using recycled materials as raw materials. During the last 10 years Kunye has built a reputation both locally and internationally for it’s innovative designs and the quiality of it’s products. Kunye has won a number of awards. Kunye offer custom-made product ranges to corporate clients. Trade shows also form part of the existing Marketing strategy.
Mielie (www.mielie.com)
Mielie is a handcraft business, based at the Montebello Design Centre in Newlands, Cape Town. Mielie is Afrikaans for corn, the staple diet of most South Africans, and probably the first item on most of the weaver’s shopping list. Mielie was started by Adri Schütz (owner and designer) in June 2002, working with a group of people who work from their homes in the greater Cape Town area. The company currently works with 70 women, who once a week meet at Mielie’s to deliver the completed products, work on refining some faulty items, check and control quality of products, and get new orders.
Mielie’s product range is varied and includes one best product, the hooked handbags. These handbags have been designed by Adri Schütz and produced utilizing reclaimed materials, these bags are handmade therefore creates many jobs for the women at Khayelitsha (a Township nearby Cape Town).
Gonzalo Aramayo’s Bio
Gonzalo Aramayo began his career working in the US and Bolivia for small and multinational companies in the area of strategic planning, product and services development, sales & marketing, real estate and banking, and Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). He has since developed consultancies in the areas of telecommunications, marketing, e-marketing, project management, knowledge management, and ICT4D for international organizations such as ALADI, WB/DGF, IICD, and UNDP.
Gonzalo Aramayo holds a Degree in Economics from Arizona State University and received his MBA from THUNDERBIRD (Global School of International Management) focused on International Management and Marketing.