eShopAfrica.com - fair trade arts & crafts direct from Africa

"beads cocktail necklace"

2012-02-15T15:41:00.001Z

Creativity has no beginning and no end, so does the art of bead designing it always re-emerges in different forms and contexts. Beads in Ghana symbolizes links among people in different ways through all aspects of life, it also represents the link between heritage,creativity and change. This necklace includes beads made from wide variety of materials, coral,trade beads, ebony, coconut shells,recycled brass, recycled glass, seeds and stone.it is a piece of variety of beads used by Ghanians in different cultural and traditional occasions.
The weight is 2kg.
email us for more info or if you have any questions: info@eshopafrica.com.

Orthopedic training centre Nsawam

2011-12-15T16:01:00.006Z

Great work!This centre which was established in 1961 to meet the needs of physically challenged Ghanians, has been helping thousands throughout Ghana.
Thanks to Brother Tarcisius who worked hard with selfless determination and deep faith to give hope and assistance.I was so happy to be there and giving Brother a big V ,see how kids are happy and they are dancing!!!

Check this new book out!!

2011-12-07T16:10:00.006Z

eShopaAfrica would like to thank Sarah Murray for writing about us and the unique Ga coffins of Ghana in her new book "Making an Exit: From the Magnificent to the Macabre -- How we dignify our dead. Check it out on Amazon!

The Lost Wax Brass Process

2011-12-01T21:03:00.000Z

The "lost wax" brass process is an ancient tecnique used for making brass models and sculptures. Amongst the Asante of Ghana this technique was used to mend the bones of ancestors which are considered sacred. It was also used to make the gold ornaments so beloved in West Africa. Nowadays brass is more commonly used... First a detailed model object is made completey out of bees wax. This wax mould is then hardened with ash and prepared for the kiln where recycled brass is melted and replaces the wax - which is "lost". See how it's done below.

Making the wax model

Wax from the African honey bee is used

First it's formed into the rough shape and size needed

Sometimes the wax is pressed into moulds to form the basic shape

After the basic shape has been formed...

Pieces of wax are modelled to make the decorations

Then the decoration can begin

An old syringe is used to make strings of wax

But when you need a lot production can be cranked up using innovative technology!

This is fiddly work - the fine strings of wax are shaped and fused to the base shape - it needs a steady hand and great concentration...

After the strings of wax have been applied they are sculpted - every detail made in wax will be replaced by brass

The finished wax faces - Adinkra symbol "gye nyame" moulds

Beads and hollow brass models are made from fine strings of wax built up over a charcoal mould

All done with these simple tools...

And all part of a day's work for this artisan at his workbench

Building up the wax model into a mould

Pieces of charcoal are pounded...

Into a fine powder

The powder charcoal is mixed with water...

And the wax models are dipped into the mixture

And given a thick coating...

And then left to dry and harden

Channels are left for the brass to pour in and replace the wax

Preparing the moulds for the kiln
The models are dipped again and again to build up the mould cases

As the moulds build up fibrous material is added to the mixture to strengthen it

The Kiln

Crucibles are made that exactly fit over the finished the finished moulds

How it works is that you put the brass in here...

And it fits on top like this

Brass taps and pipes are often used

Along with brass models that didn't work out

The crucibles are all filled with brass and then joined together to the waiting mould

A trench kiln is prepared and the crucibles are put in the kiln and fired. As they get hot the wax melts and the molten brass flows in and takes its place

Cleaning and finishing

After they have baked in the kiln the crucibles are broken open to reveal the finished pieces inside

But it's not over yet... each of the pieces has to be cleaned which is a long job

Everyone in the workshop helps out - even the children

In fact it's a family job... and this is how children start to learn the skill

This man is working on an X rated model.... something for everyone!

And here are the glorious finished pieces - all cleaned and shiny

People come from all over the world to see the skills of these artisans...

And we say good by to the artisans at the "lost wax" brass workshop in Ghana

eShopAfrica cotton, handpainted T-shirts

2011-11-27T19:27:00.003Z

Cotton T shirts, handpainted one of a kind. Cool and chic

Ghana launch of Ambiente 2012

2011-11-22T16:42:00.005Z

Mrs Yvonne Engelmann, Director Giving of Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, has come to Ghana to promote and create awareness for the upcoming Ambiente 2012 and to acquire suitable companies from the handicraft business as exhibitors
eShopAfrica has been invited as a member of the GGEA(Ghanian-German economic Association)and as a pioneer in Ghana to show case artisans handmade products thru the internet.

Young girls learning how to weave baskets

2011-11-17T15:08:00.001Z

The art of basket weaving:- These young girls from North of Ghana are learning how to weave on weekends. eShopAfrica supported and encouraged such moves so as to keep these traditional beautiful Bolga baskets for generations to come

Colourful African Back Packs

2011-11-03T12:48:00.003Z

These cute back packs are very practicale, 100% cotton, washable, can be customized to any size, most of all affordable, Wow!!

Empire State Building Coffin

2011-08-06T22:46:00.007+01:00

Sarah Murray, a journalist with the Financial Times, has just published her most recent book called Making an Exit which looks at the way different cultures dignify their dead. As part of her research she ordered her own dream coffin in the shape of the Empire State Building from eShopAfrica.com. See the pictures of her coffin being made in the eShopAfrica Coffin Gallery or watch the video of her trying it out when it arrived in New York.

You can buy Ga coffins (or thematic chests which are much smaller and less spooky) in our Coffin shop.

eShopAfrica Site Upgrade

2011-07-27T14:40:00.002+01:00

Between 26th Jul and 1 Aug 2011, eShopAfrica is updating the software that it uses for online purchases. You can still order by email - look at our catalogue of products and send an email to info [at] eshopafrica.com with your order.

We hope that the new site will be up and running by 1 Aug. We'll keep you posted

eShopAfrica Team

Fun Walk

2010-11-09T16:30:00.007Z

Ghana International Women Club (GIWC) organized a fun walk which started at 6:30 am last Saturday 5th November. The walk was used to draw attention to an upcoming Gala ni

ght for the club. The funds from the Gala night will be used to renovate an operating theatre for the maternity ward at Ridge hospital in Accra. By renovating the theatre, the hospital will have a theatre dedicated to the maternity ward. This will ensure that more than 2,800 mothers in need of extra care will receive the appropriate medical attention in order to increase the number of safe deliveries.

The GIWC Walk was a 45 minute event that included a walk that started at airport residential area and ended at the residence of the Egyptian ambassador. Setting of at 6:30am in cloudy weather and under a faint drizzle, participants of the walk were accompanied by a local marching band and local police. The 2 mile walk concluded with a breakfast at the residence of the Egyptian ambassador.

African Dolls

2010-10-19T12:12:00.009+01:00

These activity dolls are not dolls for play, but rather collector dolls that reflect the different jobs undertaken by women in Ghana. They illustrate the traditional roll of women as they perform their day to day activities.

These lovely active ladies have come to our office on their way to the UK!

Recycled glass buttons

2010-10-07T14:04:00.013+01:00

The production of recycled buttons is not as simple as one might expect. All buttons undergo a rigorous selection process, and a lot are rejected. During this process the artisan has to exhibit a lot of skill, they carefully, and quickly insert two holes while the glass button is still very hot. An inability to perforate the buttons correctly will results in cracks.

When done correctly, the final result is an extremely

exquisiteglass bead. Delighted, our customer was really

happy with the manual effort put into the whole production process. From broken glass to colourful beads!!

But wait! There is more! Out of the rejected buttons comes a new creation…

button and bead necklaces!! Isn’t that great!!

Just another day!!

2010-09-14T12:06:00.007+01:00

The Aburi Botanic Garden is one of the most beautiful,

peaceful and fascinating places in Ghana. Opened in March 1890, covering 64.8 hectares, Aburi sits atop a mountain overlooking the Accra coastal plain. - All who visit Aburi gardens are struck by the scenic views, fresh air, and natural surrounding. A true getaway from the hectic city of Accra and must see attraction for every Ghanaian and tourist alike
My family and I decided to embark on another quiet trip to the botanical garden. The naturally picturesque drive up the mountain, as well as the peaceful, serene view from the top gave me a true sense of inner peace. Our trip to the mountain was filled with bizarre attractions (see picture) like this overloaded trucks on the highway in front of us. Watch the goat peeping at the back in the above truck.and the lady sleeping on sacks of yams and plantains on the next one,...sweet dreams!!

Octopus arrived in Viennna

2010-09-07T18:03:00.005+01:00

Dear Erick, Kwather, Hatim and all the other great people at e-shopAfrica!

Last week I got the notice from the airport here in Vienna that the big box had arrived. So on Tuesday night I drove to the airport to get it and as soon as I told the customs that there is a beautiful coffin from Ghana inside, the customs guy was more than interested to see it. So after almost two hours we went to the storage to see the coffin. The crate was already open and it was the first time for me to see the octopus for real. What a beautiful artwork!!

The customs officer checked everything and suddenly he asked me what the other thing inside was. I told him that I have no idea and he just opened the paper a little bit and as soon as he saw that it was painted wood again, I was allowed to take everything with me but I didn´t open the inner package until I got home. There was a big “hello” from my whole family (my wife and my two kids) once the saw the great chest and the beautiful crab – thanks so much!!!!! My kids decided that the crab shall be named “Zwicki” (which basically means that it can “pinch”) and I gave the name “Bruno” to the octopus in memory of a good friend (a sculptor as Erick) who passed away in late February.

Together we installed both pieces on a high wall in our living room/library and as you can see on the photo we just simply love them! I will invite some friends to celebrate the arrvial of “Buno” and “Zwicki” and I will do my best to get at least one of them to order another chest! One already siad that he is considering one in the sahpe of a guitar…..

Once again, I wanted to say what great work all of you have done for me a and that I highly appriciate your efforts and the nice communication! Keep up the great work and I will spread the news about you fantastic shop!

Regards and big hugs from all of us here in Vienna!

Peter, Angi, Sophie, Max; Bruno and Zwicki

Michael Norton is a fan of eShopAfrica.com!!!

2010-08-25T11:11:00.006+01:00

Early this month Michael was in Ghana, despite his hectic schedule he made time to pay us a visit. It was a very humbling experience, meeting a man with such a rich CV, and vast business mind. Prior to seeing him, it is fair to say, I was intimidated. Mr. Norton’s personality seemed contrary to his intimidating resume, he was a simple man who spoke freely and eloquently.

He is truly a social activist

40 years supporting voluntary organisations, developing creative ideas for a better world, turning them into successful projects, and encouraging others to go out and change the world.

Thank you Michael for your support!!!

Meeting with COFTA...

2010-08-18T13:10:00.005+01:00

During my short visit to kenya I managed to pay a short visit to COFTA, co operation for fair trade in Africa, to discuss with secretariat office how eShopAfrica would like to get involved in mobilizing more members from the western part of the continent to join COFTA. Hilda, membership officer explained the role played with COFTA as a network of fair trade producer organization involved and working with artisans to eleminate poverty through fair trade.

Joan, the regional director for Africa was busy in a meeting, nevertheless she warmly welcomed my visit.

I am looking forward to see change in the livlihood of African artisans through parntership and advocacy for fair trade.

Kawther's visit to Kazuri beads factory in kenya

2010-08-11T14:17:00.006+01:00

Last month I was able to visit kasuri beads factory in Kenya. I was really impressed . I watched the whole process from making slabs of clay, then weghing clay pieces according to beads size,shaping each single bead by hand, baking, glazing, stringing and finally into a beautiful necklace,earing or a bracelet.
The factory acts as a social gathering with the hum of voices continuing throughout the day, the atmosphere is friendly and there was a smile on everybody's face. This factory provides employment opportunities for 350 disadvantaged members of Kenyan Society. What a great job!!!

Philippe Lespinasse documentry about Ga coffins is out!!

2010-03-16T16:51:00.009Z

At eShopAfrica office with me!!!

The French film maker Philippe Lespinasse was in Accra last year to film

a documentry about the Ga fantasy coffins of Ghana. He was very interested,among others, in the "Empire State building" coffin designed by Eric for Sarah Murray who is writing a book on the same issue. Read more about it in www.eshopafrica.com.
The film is out, we have just received our complimentry DVD.

In this picture we were visiting Eric, Philippe(orange batik shirt) and his crew.

It was a day!!

International Womens day!!

2010-03-08T22:29:00.003Z

Hi Women of the world..
congrats for the acheivements we had since the beginning of last century..that was great...but not the end of the line, there is still more to do...Poverty the world's poorest people are women. Health millions of women die during pregnancy or at giving birth in developing world. Slavery still women are discovered in domestic slavery every year. Sexual violence and forced marriages still prevails.
Let us make sure that the UN theme for this year "Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all" should acheive its goals..it is our duty to make it happen..Yes we will ...

Graduation Kente stoles

2010-03-07T12:09:00.005Z

Hi...

Graduate with pride this year wearing our special

Class of Year Kente strip.

We can personalize any of these items with lettering patterns

and colour of your choice,

weaving a personalised kente strip

makes a unique memento of the occasion

We are next to the Artisans!!!!

Dr W. Stephen Howard visits eShopAfrica

2009-09-01T15:58:00.005+01:00

Director of the African Studies Program at Ohio University, W. Stephen Howard is also director of the Institute for the African Child, which he founded to promote progressive development of children and their families across the African world. Dr Howard paid a curtsy visit to eShopAfrica during his short stay in Ghana. He commented on the efforts that eshopAfrica is making to help African artisans to expose their art and crafts globally.

eShopAfrica supplies Ohio University with personilized kente stoles for thier garduation .

Stars pendants

2009-09-01T15:17:00.009+01:00

1.Recycled bottles will be crushed into pieces which called"fritt"

2.The moulds are put into a kiln to be baked.

The kiln has to be hot enough to melt down the lumps of glass in the fritt.

3.The hole made by an awl... this is skilled work which has to be done

quickly before the glass cools.

4.When cool they are polished on a stone using sand and water. This grinds down the rough edges and removes the kaolin.

5. Cute and beautiful...what do you think????

Beads Artisan visiting eShopAfrica

2009-07-22T23:46:00.005+01:00

Mr Israel Kumah owner of "Lizzy Beads" has visited eShopAfrica office in Accra. Israel and his wife Elizabeth have been brought up in beads business . The shop is in Somanya in the Eastern region of Ghana where beautiful recycled beads are made.

Mr Kumah works with all types of recycled beads,powdered as wel as painted.

He thanked eShopAfrica for their support to artisans.

"Lizzy beads "you are warmly welcomed to be part of the great family of eShopAfrica.com

Ghana Beads Society..a lot to learn about beads!

2009-06-23T13:05:00.008+01:00

GBS meets at the W.E. DuBois Center in Cantonments/Accra on the first Friday of every month from 2pm-3:30pm.We meet to discuss all aspects
of beads..history,importance, production….etc .

Bead & Brass
producers as well as traders come & present their products for sale on those days.

We are looking forward to our next meeting in September.................

Peace Corps partnership

2007-10-31T17:49:00.003Z

Today we met with Dave McNally, an Associate Director with the Peace Corps, and John Park, a Peace Corps volunteer located near Kumasi. We discussed different areas where we could work together in partnership. We particularly talked with John Park about working with some of the Kente weavers located in his village. We also set up a meeting later in November to meet with some of the local artisans and cement this new relationship.

Beers of the World

2007-04-12T22:13:00.000+01:00

In the April/May 07 edition of Beers of the World magazine our beer coffins scored a hit. The piece reminds us that Homer Simpson dreams of being buried in a beer coffin - Homer - eShopAfrica can make your dream come true! Read the piece.

Kofridua Bead Market

2007-04-04T19:51:00.000+01:00

Kofridua is a regional town about an hour outside of Accra. It's famous for it's weekly bead market that draws bead buyers and sellers from all over the region. Some of these photographs were taken by Cordelia Salter, Founder and Webmaster of eShopAfrica.com on one of her visits.

Sprawling under the shade of the great tree in the Kofridua market place, every Thursday bead buyers and sellers meet.

You can find all kinds of beads like these glass beads that look like strands of coloured hair

It's a social occasion too - people come to meet with their friends and to catch up on the news - as well as to buy and sell beads

The beads are displayed to tempt you to buy like these coloured glass beads made from recycled glass

Customers and sellers catch up on each other's news

Beads of every type and colour - these beads are made from hand painted glass and many of them copy the designs of antique mille fiori made in Venice and brought to Africa as trade beads

This is one of the ladies in the market who has her selection of beads for sale laid out on a big tray

If you ever get the chance you shouldn't miss a visit to the Kofridua bead market - you would never imagine that there could be so many different types of bead. Goodbye from Kofridua!

Corporte gift success with NAMIC

2005-12-01T11:45:00.000Z

eShopAfrica.com supplied Kente cloth bookmarks and Bolgatanga baskets as gifts for for the 11th Anniversary Fundraiser of NAMIC (National Association For Multi-Ethnicity In Communications) held in New York in December 2005. The event was attended by a number of celebrities and major cable companies.

The guest and celebrity "swag bags" received praise in MulitChannel News the trade publication for the cable industry. They were coordinated by ItsInTheBagInc.com a company that specialises in interesting and innovative corporate gifts.

Next time you're organising an event why don't you order some of our products? It will say more about you and your company than any biro or plastic wallet could - and our artisans will truly appreciate your custom. Email us for ideas or a quote.

eShopAfrica in National Geographic

2005-09-29T22:12:00.000+01:00

In the September 2005 special edition of National Geographic on Africa eShopAfrica was mentioned:

See the original

eShopAfrica.com This Ghana based fair trade website helps African craftspeople build their businesses by offering products ranging from kente cloth and other textiles to custom-made coffins. Profits help pay for education and health care.

eShopAfrica goes to Silicon Valley

2005-08-31T13:46:00.000+01:00

eShopAfrica.com was invited to join Santa Clara University's Center for Science Technology and Society's Global Social Benefit Incubator Class of 2005 during August. Social entrepreneurs were selected from all over the world and given intensive training from leaders in the field on how to scale up their ventures effectively and sustainably in order to benefit humanity. Find out more or visit the Global Social Benefit Incubator Facebook page

Youth Exchange Filming eShopAfrica Artisans

2005-08-26T18:03:00.000+01:00

A group of European students are visiting Ghana to make a film documentary on the aspirations of its population. They intend to explore the impacts of development programmess with a special focus on the field of fair trade and arts and crafts. Their initiative is supported by the International Youth Exchange Programme (IYEP-Ghana) and the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council (CYEC).

eShopAfrica.com is putting the students in touch with some of our artisans and telling them about some of the challenges involved in running a fair trade website from Ghana. The resulting film will be shown to students in Europe to help raise awareness of the lives of ordinary Africans. Visit the WORLDwrite website

The Economist mentions our Nokia coffin

2005-03-10T15:00:00.000Z

The Economist 10 Mar 2005
Our Nokia Mobile Phone coffin was mentioned in the Technology Quarterly of the Economist in a piece about the sprituality of mobile phones. Read the article or see the photos of the Nokia Mobile Phone coffin being made in the eShopAfrica.com coffin gallery

Fortune Small Business Feb 05

2005-02-12T22:09:00.000Z

Coffins to Die For
See the original
In Ghana what you do in life determines the style of your burial. The Ga tribe, located in the country's capital Accra, models coffins to reflect their occupants hobbies and occupations from peacocks for bird lovers to airplanes for pilots. Now five-year-old exporter eShopAfrica.com is giving the burial vessels new life aboveground in the living rooms of Europe and America. British-born founder Cordelia Salter-Nour 47, spent two decades in Africa in technology development before moving to Rome, where she decided to start a company that would give Ghanaian artisans an escape from exploitive practices. &One artist we use, Samuel Naah, paid off his apprentice fees with two commissions from us. Now he has his own business,& says Salter-Nour. Prices range from $125 for desktop chests to $1250 for six foot models. In 2004, eShopAfrica.com's sales for all its art exports - including drums, textiles and jewellery- topped $50,000. - SUE KARLIN

Greenstar.org - Sweatshops and Butterflies

2004-12-15T07:12:00.000Z

article for Sustainable Development InternationaleShopAfrica.com exports arts from Africa, to help traditional artisans make a decent living. Young people move to the towns, but end up unemployed or homeless because they don't have urban skills. eShopAfrica puts money and prestige back into their lives, building the value of their traditional skills. Visit the site

Digital Dividend - ICTs and Handicrafts

2004-11-18T07:10:00.000Z

eShopAfrica.com sells arts and crafts from Ghana, and encourages their artisans to learn Internet skills in order to help them develop their own design ideas. Read more

Finalist in "Global Junior Challenge"

2004-09-01T11:25:00.000+01:00

eShopAfrica was a finalist in the "Global Junior Challenge" a competition that is dedicated to all young people, from school children to teenagers and youths taking their first steps on the job market. It is open to cities, institutions, local authorities, businesses, NGOs, communities and individual citizens and all those who are interested or involved in child and youth education and training, and more broadly, in helping in the construction of a more inclusive society.

One of the aims of eShopAfrica is to put money and prestige back into the African artisan sector. Many of our artisans express a wish to be able to give their children a decent standard of living and education so that they remain with the family and inherit the skills instead of moving away to urban areas. Visit the Global Junior Challenge website

What's it like to work for eShopAfrica?

2004-08-27T11:31:00.000+01:00

Deborah Jones, a UK post graduate volunteered to work for eShopAfrica during the summer of 2004. Although she is still continuing her studies she wanted to know what it was like to work for an African fair trade arts and crafts business. We were very happy to have her! As well as helping out in the office she helped survey our artisans on what their goals and aspirations are.

As an outsider coming from the UK she was full of ideas and initiated a bead marketing campaign for UK beadshops. She also had some good ideas to make the website better.

Deborah is now continuing her studies at the School of African and Oriental Studies in London and we wish her all success and hope that she'll come and visit us in Ghana again soon.

This is what she said about us:

"Working for eShopAfrica in Ghana taught me that whilst running a business in Africa is challenging, it is also immensely rewarding.

Part of the work I did out there was to interview the artisans about their plans and ambitions. Before I went, I thought the company had set itself a big challenge in helping these people earn a good living from selling their products, but I was not prepared for how enterprising and resourceful these men and women were. I was really impessed by their plans to speed up production and break into new markets.

The challenge they faced on a day to day basis; competition from others selling similar goods, the difficulty of getting hold of raw materials and the pace of life in Ghana, which means everything takes a long time, were akin to the challenges eShopAfrica faces. I really liked the fact there was no conflict of interest between the artisans who were all trying to develop their businesses, and the company that buys from them. They are all small concerns, but they can, and are, helping each other."

E Marketing 3rd edition by Judy Strauss...

2004-08-22T19:37:00.000+01:00

Practitioner Perspective: Ecommerce from Ghana. Although we are based in Ghana, we are marketing to the rest of the world so the fact that credit cards are hardly used in Africa does not affect us. Until there is... Read more

A Maasai at the 2004 Olympics

2004-07-01T11:42:00.000+01:00

eShopAfrica gets a lot of emails from all over the world asking for help in getting African products. One day we got an email from H&H Sculptors in England who were looking for authentic Maasai attire.

They were casting a full sized Maasai scupture for the exhibition: Ptychoseis: Folds + Pleats: Drapery from Ancient Greek Dress to 21st-Century Fashion organised by the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation and the Cultural Olympiad.

Although eShopAfrica has some contacts in Kenya, we don't source authentic Maasai products (yet) so we asked for help from some friends working with AMREF the Kenyan based NGO.

One of their staff bought the complete Maasai outfit including earrings, armbands and hair clips and sent them to London where the statue was dressed before being sent to Greece. The photos below show the Maasai modelling for for the cast and the finished sculpture - it's hard to tell which is which:

The Masaai who modeled for the statue

The Masaai statue

eShopAfrica nominated for the Tech Awards

2004-07-01T11:30:00.000+01:00

eShopAfrica was nominated for the Tech Awards 2004 that awards innovators who use technology to benefit humanity. Visit the Tech Awards website

Playboy Jun 04

2004-06-22T22:07:00.000+01:00

FATAL DISTRACTION - GOING IN STYLE
See the original

Crazy caskets cheer up the grimmest of reapers. If you sell shoes for a living, you may as well step into the hereafter in a giant wingtip. At least that's the thinking in Ghana, where a coffin is the last word in style. Fifty years ago* a Ghanaian angler shipped off in a seven foot fish and started a trend; today there's an endless variety of silly, folk-arty things on the market. Cabdrivers are buried in wooden taxis, preachers in Bible-shaped boxes and suds lovers in beer bottles. Want your own? eShopAfrica.com will put a giant reminder of mortality in your living room for a mere $1000.

* According to the book Going into Darkness: Fantastic Coffins from Africa by Thierry Secretan the thematic coffin tradition started earlier than this

FHM Magazine Jun 04

2004-06-07T22:02:00.000+01:00

COFFINS - GETAWAY CASKETS
See the original

All the fun of a funeral in Ghana without ever having to live there. No-one knows where we go when we die. If it's LA though, you're going to need a set of wheels. Thanks to coffin-makers in Ghana, the dead can now take to the afterlife in a hand-carved Ferrari, Subaru or whatever they fancy. "Ghana's Ga people bury their dead in coffins that represent the life of the deceased," says Cordelia Salter-Nour of eShopAfrica.com, the business that's bringing Ghana's best to the West. The designs come in full, half and table top models. "Half size is a children's coffin," Salter-Nour says. But do Westerners want to spend eternity in a giant phone? "Sure they do," Salter-Nour insists. &One customer wants to be buried in a peacock. But she ordered a half size, so she'll have to squash unless she's small."

See picture of the Ferrari coffin and the peacock in the Coffin Gallery

Africa as a Market - The Bead Trade

2004-05-28T19:25:00.000+01:00

Cordelia Salter, Founder of eShopAfrica.com coordinated an exhibition of antique trade beads collected in Africa which was on display at FAO Headquarters in Rome during Africa week 24 - 28 May 2004. She also gave a lunchtime seminary on Africa and the bead trade. The beads that were on display tell an interesting story. Many of the designs were highly localised with beads of a particular colour being manufactured for a particular region of Africa. Fakes were common and both Venetian and Bohemian bead makers were skilled at reproducing beads which had a high value in Africa such as granite and coral.

The bead factories retained agents all over the continent who sent beads that were popular in Africa back to Europe to be copied. The exhibition had many examples of both the African originals and European copies.

The exhibition also showed that although the European bead industry fell into decline in the last century, the designs are still being reproduced in Africa today although the African bead makers use different processes.

Design Competition 04, Rome, Italy

2004-05-28T18:06:00.000+01:00

In partnership with Afram, (UN African Amicale), eShopAfrica.com held the Design Competition Judging and Award ceremony at FAO on Friday May 28th as part of the UN Africa week celebrations. The theme was "Trade and Opportunities"

Art and design students from international schools in Rome were challenged to design products suitable for western markets that incorporated traditional African arts and crafts. The students were shown a variety of African arts and crafts and told about the lives of the artisans. The response was fantastic with a total of 104 entries. The students came up with some truly original ideas.

A special thank you to the art teachers who worked with us to make this competition possible:

Dennis Cigler, High School Art Teacher
Marymount International School

Francesca Godfrey, Art Teacher
The New School

Greg Morgan, High School Art Teacher
St George's International School

Mauro Brooks, Middle School Art Teacher
Marymount International School

The Judges

Daniela Petroff-Simpson, the Associated Press Fashion writer who covers the Italian fashion scene was the Jury Coordinator. Judges were asked to award points on the following criteria:

Originality
Incorporation of African materials
Useability
Suitability for markets
Overall Impression

Other judges included Sheila Sisulu, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme and Zeinab Gregorio,President of the African Women's Group.

The exhibit and award ceremony was attended by the BBC journalist Jenny Horrocks and was featured in the BBC World Service Radio Programme Artbeat during the week of 3rd June 2004.

Jenny Horrocks (right), editor of the BBC World Service Radio Programme ArtBeat with Father Chinedu Anieke and Cordelia Salter of eShopAfrica.com

The Winning Entries

The standard of the entries was very high and the judges had a tough time making their decision. Congratulations to the winners below and a big THANK YOU to everyone who entered.

Overall winners

1st prize: A Kente Shawl and 100 Euro Amazon Gift Token

"Beaded bag" by Maria Grade 12 Marymount International School

2nd prize: A Mudcloth Shawl and 50 Euro Amazon Gift Token

"Lion Head CD Stand" by Alex Grade 9 Marymount International School

3rd prize: An Ethiopian Shawl and 25 Euro Amazon Gift Token

"Chess Set" by Constanza Grade 6 Marymount International School

Grade Prizes
Each Grade prize received a Kente Strip

Grade 6 1st Place

"Panther Box" by Alif, New School

Grade 6 2nd Place

"African Table Mat" by Lehua, New School

Grade 6 3rd Place

"African Star Clock" by Alessandro, New School

Grade 7 Joint 1st Place

"Tesscam Lamp" by Tess & Camille, Marymount

Grade 7 2nd Place

"The Elly Lampshade" by Emilia, Marymount

Grade 7 3rd Place

"Secret Book" by Gabriel, Marymount

Grade 8 1st Place

"Poncho" by Teresa, Marymount

Grade 8 2nd Place

"School Bag" by Lidia, Marymount

Grade 8 3rd Place

"Cricket Cupboard" by Rizan, Marymount

Grade 9 1st Place

"Hat" by Stefania, Marymount

Grade 9 2nd Place

"Bed-side Table" by Galteera, Marymount

Grade 9 3rd Place

"Taily Key Holders" by Blaine, Marymount

Grade 11 1st Place

"Relax Chair" by Thais, Marymount

Grade 11 2nd Place

"Jewel of the Savannah" by Caroline, St Georges

Grade 11 3rd Place

"African Star Card" by Laura, New School

Grade 12 1st Place

"African Cloth Beautiful Belts" by Vittoria, Marymount

Grade 12 2nd Place

"Voodoo Night Handbag" by Francesca, Marymount

Grade 12 3rd Place

"Easy Assemble Canopy Bed" by Naila, Marymount

Hilary Benn supports eShopAfrica

2004-05-17T14:06:00.000+01:00

Following an email correspondence concerning ecommerce and the barriers to trade for African artisans, eShopAfrica.com has received a letter of support from the UK Secretary of State for Development, Hilary Benn MP. Read the letter

African Crafts Certificate

2004-03-16T14:10:00.000Z

eShopAfrica.com is targeting consumers who want highly unusual products. Explain what is meant by the ‘bundle of benefits’ that products provide for customers and how this affects perceived value in the customer’s eyes. Read more

eShopAfrica.com and Development Gateway

2004-03-01T11:19:00.000Z

Cordelia Salter, founder and webmaster of eShopAfrica.com was invited by the World Bank's Development Gateway to take part in a workshop held in Tanzania. The Tanzania Country Gateway who was hosting the event was focussing on the use of ICTs to promote SME development.

In a live video conference link between Rome, Washington and Dar El Salem, participants in the workshop in Tanzania listened first to a presentation on e-business by James Hanna of the World Bank's Private Sector Development Cluster for the Latin America and the Caribbean Region.

Following this Cordelia talked about the challenges and successes eShopAfrica has had in setting up an African based ecommerce web site. Practical issues such as credit card processing, fraud, shipping, customs and marketing were discussed. The presentation was followed by a question and answer session. Visit the Development Gateway website.

Entrepreneurship in Africa: A Study of Successes by David Fick

2004-02-28T14:01:00.000Z

Entrepreneurship in Africa is a study of those entrepreneurs who have achieved success, wealth, and fame by organizing and directing a business undertaking in Africa. It is a story about successful entrepreneurs who have assumed risk in pursuit of profit, who have tried to conform to ethical business standards and who have tried to contribute to the economic development and improve the natural environment and the education, health, and welfare of their community and nation. Find out more.

Balancing Act Africa newsletter

2004-01-24T13:57:00.000Z

eShopAfrica.com sells top quality African manufactured goods in bulk. It is based in Ghana and is using the internet to create a larger global market for African products. Its owners say: The world has been told to buy more from Africa - we want to help them. Read more

Development Gateway

2003-12-03T21:58:00.000Z

From Africa to Argentina, case studies of handicrafts groups using the Internet for sales and marketing are showcased this month as some of the leading "success stories" for small enterprise e-business worldwide. Read more...

Finalist in ICT Stories Competition

2003-12-01T10:55:00.000Z

The story of eShopAfrica "Hand made in Africa" written by Cordelia Salter was one of the finalists in the IICD 2003 ICT Stories (Tony Zeitoun awards), organized by International Institute for Communications and Development (IICD) .

Stories had to be presented in four sections each of about 1,000 words in length. Details such as how ICT was used and what problems were faced had to be incorporated into the story.

The idea

"Made by hand". What does that mean to you? Maybe if you're an Italian you think of Fendi or Armani. Or from London and you think of Saville Row... and the price will tell you that in the worlds of industrialized manufacturing "hand-made" things command high, high prices. But if you're an artisan in africa your "hand-made" thing won't command a high price. you'll be made to feel inferior because your society never industrialized. Perceptions and economics will force you to accept a low price for your work and you may not be able to feed your family. When they get sick you won't be able to afford medicine and schools cost too much. You may not own or have the legal right to your house and may have no water. When your children grow they'll look down on you, move away, disassociate themselves from your traditions telling you you're living in a world they don't like. This is the scenario for traditional african artisans all over the continent and in this way centuries old skills are being lost.

In different times when african cultures and traditions were thriving there were domestic markets. In Ghana the asante kings and nobles would order kente cloth or "lost wax" brass beads for funerals, weddings, outdoorings and other special occasions. New designs would be ordered taxing the artisan's creativity. The weavers played an important role in a power structure where the visual impression of wealth was a mark of status. The greater the chief, the greater his cloth and the greater the weaver who made it. But not any more. the young asante nobles of today - just like all other young people - are more attracted to satellite TV and travel than to traditional arts and crafts. Given the choice between a new piece of kente cloth and a DVD player there's no question for them.

Tourism was supposed to be one of the answers but tourists are fickle and ill informed. Many don't realize how expensive africa is. although it has some of the poorest people in the world, it's not cheap. Most raw materials for construction are imported - which means they're heavily taxed - making construction costs high. The global competition for tourists is largely based on price and african tourist locations find it hard to compete. and anyway, not many people see africa as a vacation destination. Even if the tourists come it's not all good - artisans soon realize that tourists don't understand quality and the high standards that used to be their pride become irrelevant. They set their apprentices to churn out rubbish which the tourists buy anyway.

This demise has been going on for some time. The ancient process used to make Mauritanian "Kiffa" beads was nearly lost. Glass is ground to a powder and bound together by spittle and formed into shapes with patterns painted on the outside in coloured glass paste. after baking the bright red beads are strung together to make striking necklaces. Not long ago the only remaining artisan who still had the skill was found shortly before they died. Fortunately they were able to pass it on and now these beautiful beads are still being made and are sought after by bead collectors all over the world. Other skills are not so lucky.

The irony continues. if you take the asante kente cloth, the "lost wax" brass, the "kiffa" beads out of africa they speak for themselves. People admire and desire them. They value the traditional skills, the natural materials and most of all the fact that a real human being - not a machine - made them. The problem then is quite clear - those in the world with money and comfortable lives need to be able to buy african arts and crafts. They want to own them, they're happy to pay a western style price, happy to give the artisans trade and happy that they can do something to help people less well off than themselves. This is the essence of eShopafrica's mission - to find new global markets for traditional african artisans so that they can build up sustainable businesses and earn a decent living.

We're based in accra, Ghana and started working on our idea in 1999 when the dot com bubble was still bright and full. Ghana is well wired for africa... all over accra there are cyber cafes with bright hand-painted signs: "Gods Own Internet Cafe - 10 cedis a minute direct connection". Inside you can glimpse the rows of hunched shoulders squeezed together each peering into their own corner of cyber space. Boys selling shells on the beach give you their hotmail address telling you to email them. Ghanaians easily spotted the opportunities of contact that the Internet can bring.

Connectivity was never a problem. telephone lines are available if you're willing to negotiate. Service providers are unreliable but that's not unique to Ghana. We easily found affordable software that allowed for offline web development and delivered orders by ftp circumventing day-to-day email and connection problems. Our Product Sourcer, Trish Graham an african craft expert from Canada called on her contacts in the african artisan community to source products. Her knowledge made it easy for her to see true quality and she made supplier agreements with artisans agreeing quality criteria and timescales for their work. Through our contacts we sourced products from other countries too. we have shawls from Ethiopia, baskets from Zimbabwe, mud cloth from Mali, Indigo strip fabric from Burkina Faso and more. a digital camera and spotlight made producing product images quick and easy and we started to build the site.

But there's more to an ecommerce website than technology. There are legal and bureaucratic issues too and Kawther El Obeid, a Sudanese living in Ghana took care of that. Through her contacts in the business community she registered eShopafrica as an export company and opened local and international bank accounts. Many had warned us of the nightmare of export bureaucracy but the Ghana Export Promotion Council had other news. as we working in the non-traditional sector all export duties were waived - we were only asked only to keep a record of what we sold so that we could be included in their annual "best exporter" competition.

Results

By Feb 2001 we had tested the site and were ready to announce our presence to the world. We invited everyone we could think of to a launch party in accra - the ICT sector, diplomats, ministers, journalists, friends, relatives. We served traditional african drinks and snacks and had the site running with samples of the products for people to see. Everyone loved the idea. We got a couple of press mentions and emails of support from the local community - everything looked like it was going well.

Then.. Nothing. For a long time. We submitted the site to search engines, registered it with trade portals, subscribed it to lists, spent hours surfing and sending emails. We resorted to old fashioned letters in envelopes sending a kente woven bookmark as a sample. Still nothing - or almost nothing. We started to get a trickle of small orders - mostly through friends or the search engines - but not enough to help us grow or even keep going.

But everyone was saying that ecommerce was going to be the saviour of africa. information technology was going to allow african traders to talk directly to global markets leapfrogging the repressive, profiteering middle-men who had been exploiting them. It sounded good but that was what we were trying to do in the art and craft sector and the world wasn't beating a path to our website. No matter how you look at it, an ecommerce website without orders isn't much use.

Interest in africa comes in flurries.... Treasurer O'Neal and Sting came together in May 2002 - an unusual combination and world interest was running high. Was O'Neal going to make one of his famous gaffs? Would Sting say or do something outrageous? Michael Phillips of the Wall Street Journal was part of the press entourage and he and his photographer took time off to go down to the Teshie seafront to photograph the world famous Ga coffins.

The Ga were originally a fishing community who lived on the land which was chosen for accra, the post independence capital of Ghana. The Ga have a tradition whereby you're buried in a coffin that reflects how you earned your living. Because they're a fishing community there's a strong fish theme with the most common coffins being shaped like red snappers, barracudas, lobsters, boats. But all professions are catered for - a 6ft long pepper for a pepper trader, a cocoa pod, a pineapple, a paw paw. a rocket launcher for an army general, a book for a preacher, shops for shopkeepers, chickens and turkeys for poultry farmers, trucks for a lorry drivers. In earlier times a chief was buried in a lion, a symbol of status and power. Nowadays chiefs are buried in a White Mercedes Benz complete with their real-world Mercedes license plate. When beads were the symbol of power and status in africa they were buried with their owners and in this way the Mercedes Benz license plates are continuing an old african tradition.

The detail on these works is incredible. The shapes are perfect and the carpenters add texture giving the skin of the pineapple little spikes, roughing the lobster shell to make it look course. The sign painters who draw the brightly coloured shop signs that West africa is so famous for paint whatever is needed to make the illusion complete. These coffins are so visually witty reproducing as they do mundane objects on a large scale. Each one opens somehow with the lid often concealed as part of the design to reveal room for the deceased. Their visual splendour illustrates the african attitude towards funerals - a joyous celebration of the successful completion of this stage of life. They've been featured in National Geographic, there's a book written about them and several museums and galleries around the world own collections. Truly antiques of the future.

The carpenters are not limited to coffins though. They're happy to make their products for people who want to keep them not bury them. We had a supplier agreement with an apprentice coffin carpenter, Samuel, for "decorated chests". Michael Phillips heard that eShopafrica sold coffins on their website - perhaps an Internet first? - and it caught his interest. a few days later we were mentioned on the front page of the business section of the Wall Street Journal with a picture of beautiful red snapper coffin.

To a struggling website a media mention is a breath of life. We received an avalanche of emails some of them expressing support and some of them orders. It gave us a chance to test our supply lines. Some artisans let us down. Many more kept their word. It was great. great to have some orders, great practice and great at last to feel we could actually sell the things. Our artisans were happy too. they'd shown great patience as we bombarded them with questions about their exact processes, their materials and how many they could reliably make. Finally we were able to prove ourselves by passing orders on to them. We even got some orders for Samuel - a chicken and a peacock for the US. Samuel had never seen a peacock. The only place in accra where we could find any were in the Indian Embassy but they wouldn't oblige with their tails so Samuel used photographs.

But newspaper mentions are fleeting and soon the orders and interest tailed off again. The search engine orders increased but not much and it was clear that we still had a steep climb. Michael Phillips mentioned us again in an article about the copyright problems of african print designs producing some interest in our fabrics but again it tailed off.

In February 2003 an email arrived from Briony Hale, the BBC online business reporter. She had found eShopafrica through the search engines and wanted to know our story. a few weeks later Samuel and his peacock under construction were in the business section of the BBC website with an article about eShopafrica and what we were trying to do.

If the Wall Street Journal mention was a breath of life, this was wind in our sails. Emails of support and - more importantly - orders started to come in. and this time there were more of the business to business and bulk orders that we wanted. Websites last longer than newspapers because we continue to get emails saying "We just saw the piece on the BBC website." We thanked Briony Hale for waving her magic wand - she was surprised to find she had such power. It seems that the Internet is such a wild and dangerous place that a mention by a known brand gives people the perception that you're safe. But as Briony pointed out, she had no idea whether eShopafrica was serious or not - she'd just found us through the search engines and thought she could make a good story.

Lessons

Perhaps the single most important thing about an ecommerce website is how to get your customers' money. In Ghana we were easily able to set up a dollar bank account which could receive international bank transfers but bank transfers are dinosaurs and a disincentive to people who've got used to clicky credit card payments. In 1999 WorldPay didn't much care that we were in Ghana - such was the spirit of the day that it was enough that we were "on the internet". We were given a merchant account that gave us the ability to take online payments. But suddenly the world changed. in the post 9/11 era WorldPay cancelled our merchant account. New UK legislation meant that they had to enforce their "Know Your Customer" scheme. They had to be able to physically visit your place of business and Ghana was too far away.

It was a devastating blow and we frantically began to look around for an alternative. all the credit card service providers spoke with one voice - businesses based in sub-Saharan africa need not apply. It could have been the end of us - without credit card processing we would lose the steady flow of smaller orders that were an important part of our business. In a rare case of true philanthropy SustainableVillage.com a US website dedicated to promoting sustainable development issues offered to process credit card payments on our behalf. It's a cumbersome process and takes them and us time and trouble but at least we can continue to take credit card orders.

Having the ability to process credit cards is a Trojan horse because it attracts the fraudsters. Some fraudulent orders are just people trying their luck - they're easy to spot and just waste time. But the dangerous ones have credit card numbers and can look like serious orders. But the real owner of a credit card has up to six months to challenge a charge they find on their statement and you just can't wait that long before you ship. We've fallen victim to this type of fraud and in response have developed our own system of verification. We always enter into discussions with our customers - which isn't difficult because are a lot of things to talk about like delivery times and shipping costs. By entering into discussions we eliminate most fraudsters who, it seems, don't like to chat. If we're highly suspicious (some hotmail and yahoo emails are just too ridiculous) we request some mundane credit card detail like the postcode before we even begin to process the credit card. Genuine customers are happy to comply but we never hear from fraudsters again.

This contact works in our favour in other ways. Our customers tell us how much they enjoy the close contact with people physically located in africa and dealing with real african artisans. They send personal messages of thanks when their orders arrive which we pass on giving both sides the feeling of contact that's so important. Because of our contact we can include customers in our problems. at a certain time of year it's hard to get baskets from Northern Ghana because everyone is busy planting and harvesting. agriculture is the their main source of income - baskets are only supplementary - so if we have a basket order during the growing season we explain the reason for the delay. Customers are more than happy to wait and their increased awareness of the basket makers' lives becomes important to them.

We knew that the high cost of shipping from africa would be a problem and it is. To complicate things charges can be calculated by weight or volume and it's difficult to predict the crossover from one to the other. Putting shipping costs next to the product on the site can be tricky because there are so many variables and it could be misleading. We usually rely on sending shipping quotes after the order has been placed to make sure it's accurate. It can happen that the shipping is more than the cost of the products which customers query. We tell them we have no control over shipping costs which is why we keep the two completely separate. Even so, it can still be a good deal. For example we have seen a poor quality Djembe drum for sale in a New York music shop for $500 and yet the cost of our genuine Djembe including shipping to the US is way below that. Looked at this way many customers continue with their orders.

When we started the Internet was seen as a wonderful, positive place which thrived on goodwill. as the bubble burst the philanthropy evaporated and everyone desperately tried to figure out ways of making money. When we started we had believed, as many others, that marketing budgets were a thing of the past because being "on the internet" was enough. This was a mistake. the things that are free are too crowded and anything effective costs. We never allocated a budget for marketing and were lucky that media mentions did their job or we would not have survived.

Development Impacts

Since the BBC mention the word about eShopafrica has spread far and wide. We're often contacted by NGOs and development organizations who are working with low level artisan communities in other african countries who would like to sell their products on our site. Internet savvy african artisans and traders contact us too. they'd all like to see their own products for sale on the Internet. The beauty of a web site is that space is not a problem and the more artisans and products we have, the better for us. We make no charge for products to be put on our website - we ask for samples of work which we either return or pay for. all our artisans understand that their products must meet our quality guidelines or they will be refused. What's important now is to build up the markets to prove to these artisans that it's worth their while to make high quality products.

We're now getting the kinds of orders that we wanted from the beginning. Bolgatanga baskets made by Maata N Tudu, an association of poor rural women in Northern Ghana, are very popular with Californian health food stores. We send an information sheet about the women's daily lives which the shops display next to the baskets - again people like the feeling of contact with the ordinary people of africa. We've been supplying a steady stream of musicians and bands with Ghanaian drums and percussion instruments and a school in Turkey is in the process of ordering a complete african orchestra. Oklah Tetteh our Krobo glass bead maker is very popular and his beads made from recycled glass are now for sale in bead shops in the UK, Sweden, australia and the US. The shop keepers tell us that his beads are sold as soon as they are put out. a designer in the US is making kente cloth pillows and cushions which are popular with african americans. Collectors contact us looking for special things like tin toy models or low-level village handicrafts - things that you could normally only get if you travelled to africa yourself.

The artisans are very grateful both for the orders and for what we're trying to do. They frequently ask if they can include a gift for their customer - an important african custom. as long as it doesn't alter the cost of shipping we send it along. Our customers are very happy - it's not often these days that you get more than you ordered.

and Samuel. Samuel is now famous in Teshie for having his picture on the BBC website. He has paid off his apprenticeship and is setting up his own business. Briony Hale ordered a small red pepper which was the envy of her BBC colleagues. Samuel had a large order for an exhibition in Moscow with the two star pieces being a full-sized (6ft) Ferrari and a Nokia mobile phone - firsts for the coffin carpenters of Teshie. Under production he has a Suburu Impreza for BBC Top Gear Magazine - another first.

Customers often ask if alterations can be made to the products such as making the beads all to a uniform standard so that they can be included in catalogues. If the request is reasonable the artisans are happy to oblige and are grateful for the knowledge of what is needed to make their products more saleable. They're more than willing to innovate too. Samuel is now producing chests in all sizes from "desk top" through to the traditional size. Even if you haven't room for a six foot chest in your house you can now own your own "mini-coffin" in desk top or table top size. Samuel has made a life-sized football and giant computer mouse which are just as much fun as the large pieces and much easier to ship.

Oklah the recycled glass beadmaker is working on making coloured glass chips for Italian mosaics and there are more ideas to come. eShopafrica is organizing a design competition in Rome for art and design students to design products suitable for western markets that use african arts and crafts. Students will be shown samples of crafts from all over africa to increase their awareness of what african artisans can make. Who knows, one day our dream of seeing something african amongst the top designer labels of Europe may yet come true?

Every single order represents the completion of our mission - to get global orders for african artisans. But we still need more so that we can build up a customer list providing regular, repeat orders that can form the foundation of sustainable businesses. although we still have a climb ahead of us it seems less steep than where we've been. and after all, many ecommerce sites that started trading on the Internet when we did no longer eist - and we're still growing.

Boating Magazine Oct 03

2003-10-17T22:00:00.000+01:00

BOATING FOR ETERNITY
See the original
We know boating is your life - obviously - so spend the hereafter in a coffin built to resemble your boat. Morbid? Yes. Better than anything your family will pick out for you? Absolutely. In the tradition of the Ga people of Ghana, who are buried in a coffin that reflects how they lived, eShopAfrica.com will build you a specially carved coffin for $1,000. Just send the company a picture of your boat and your final resting place will be completed in four to six weeks. If you're the consummate angler, you can choose one of the many fish styles from the eShopAfrica.com's current roster of 22 decorated coffins and chests or send them a picture of your 1,000 pound trophy blue marlin and they will carve to order. Now you can truly sleep with the fishes.

Being positive about Africa…

2003-10-15T09:58:00.000+01:00

Marymount International School, Rome, Italy
Social Awareness Week, October 2003

How do you see Africa now?

Whenever Africa is on the news it’s almost always something bad… a drought, a famine, genocide, rebel war, corruption… Think back to the last time you heard a good news story from Africa? No wonder the world thinks of Africa as a negative place. But these snapshots are misleading… yes they do happen and are very real to those involved but there is more to the picture.

There are also millions of people struggling against grinding day to day poverty. Their poverty may not be so shocking or new to make it to the news headlines but it’s real enough for them. Feeding a family on less than a dollar a day is not easy. Many children your age will never have had the opportunity to go to school, may never have owned a pair of shoes – let a long a pair of new shoes – and quite likely have spent a lot of their time hungry and ill.

I know what you’re thinking… How can I be positive about all that? It’s not easy… but the first step to being positive is to understand how these situations of chronic poverty arose. They didn’t just happen overnight… they have been in the pipeline for many, many years and what we see are the tragic end results. Whenever you’re looking for answers, history is always a good place to start…

The Real History of Africa

Africa is an incredibly rich continent – and perhaps that has been its downfall. Although most modern Africans are poor the mineral resources beneath their feet are fabulous. All over the continent there are diamonds, gold, silver, bauxite, rutile, copper, oil… all mineral resources greatly valued by our western cultures.

You probably remember studying the kingdom of Ancient Egypt – one of the few pieces of African history that get a mention in school textbooks. However, it’s often treated as though it was an anomaly – a one off happening in an otherwise bare continent. Nothing could be further from the truth… the kingdoms of ancient Egypt were only one of the many ancient splendid kingdoms of Africa.

Beneath Egypt were the ancient kingdoms of Kush at Meroe in present day Sudan. For a while the Kingdom of Kush ruled over the Egyptians to the North. Next door in Ethiopia was the Axum empire – there is one of their stellae here in Rome – which again rivalled the Egyptian and Kushite empires in strength and power. Along the Rift Valley coast of East Africa there are the great Swahili empires who traded across the Indian Ocean connecting Africa with Asia and China since the mists of pre-history. These Swahili kingdoms also traded with Central, West and Southern Africa as well as the Middle East and Europe.

Nowadays the Sahara Desert is thought of as a dry, barren place with no life. Again this is not true – the climate of Africa is cyclical and the Sahara is sometimes desert and sometimes green. It dried out from a green phase just prior to the rise of Ancient Egypt – many historians believe that the founders of the Ancient Egyptian empire were the remnants of the civilisations that had been living in the Sahara as it dried out.

West Africa has its share of great kingdoms too – the Nok culture in present day Nigeria is dated at around 500BC and like another more famous ancient kingdom, the Nok also buried terracotta statues with their dead that showed remarkable creativity and sophistication. They were one of the first cultures on earth to smelt iron.

During the spread of Islam the Sahara also went through a slightly wetter phase which allowed for the proliferation of trade routes from East to West and the North to South. This trade gave rise to many other great kingdoms such as Ancient Ghana (where Mali is today), Kanem Bonu (now in Nigeria), Mali, Songhay and many more.

In 1324 the renowned emperor of the Empire of Mali, Mansa Kankan Musa travelled to Mecca overland. He and his entourage stopped off in Cairo where he gave out gold in such quantities that its price on the open market fell drastically. Twelve years later it was still depressed – this is an early example of the effect of supply and demand on exchange rate mechanisms

When the Portuguese set off from Europe around 1400, they weren’t vaguely hoping to discover something… they knew about the fabulous wealth and power of trade with Africa and wanted a share. They stopped off at various points around the west, southern and eastern coasts to see what trade they could find. This part of history is often misrepresented in European history books – Africans weren’t living in some kind of primitive state before the arrival of the Europeans around the coast. They had been trading with Europe for thousands of years overland. Although there may have been some novelty in the use of the sea route for trade - the actual idea of trade with Europe was nothing new. Nothing more exciting than a new factory outlet.

The Portuguese burned down most of the trading ports along the eastern seaboard of Africa and now only a few remnants remain at places like Lamu in Kenya and Suakin in Sudan. The Swahili traders along the coast lost their traditional supply chains and were forced to deal with Europeans who had other agendas… more of that later.

But these glory days cannot be forgotten… Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia is now known as one of the most lawless places on earth. But Mogadishu was once the home of a powerful trading empire that was so stable that it had its own mint and produced its own currency.

So, as you can see, it’s very easy to be positive about African history. But what’s the connection between these fabulous tales of ancient civilisations and wealth and the depressing pictures we see on the news today?

First slavery

The mass transportation of Africans as slaves across the Atlantic ocean marks one of the darkest moments of European history. It’s hard to comprehend both the cruelty against individuals and the deliberate destruction of societies. Or is it? As you learn about human nature you will find that greed is one of the most powerful forces on earth.

There’s an argument that says that Africans are just as responsible for the trans Atlantic slave trade because without their cooperation it couldn’t have happened. To qualify that you should look at the conditions prevailing at the time and the effect of market forces.

Firstly domestic slavery was equally common in Europe as in Africa at that time. Slaves were purchased for incorporation into households or family run businesses. However, in African societies slaves were integrated into the households and often brought up equally with the children of the household. They often rose to hold high office and even marry into the royal lineage. Customs differed but in Africa a leader was usually judged partly by their wealth and partly by their generosity. A great African leader would be expected to look after his whole tribe – including the slaves who were part of it – and would be personally criticised for cruelty or depravation.

Traditionally slaves came about either as a result of a war where captives were taken or as a result of the paying of a penalty to settle a dispute. However, the Europeans had other ideas. They desired to cultivate huge tracts of land in the Americas that they had newly occupied. Being from Northern Europe they had no idea how to grow the tropical crops they wanted such as cotton and sugar. Africans were experienced tropical cultivators and were very useful to them.

By introducing a culture of violence into Africa in the shape of modern weaponry European traders were able to upset the traditional balance of society and reap the benefit. They would give away or sell for a cheap price guns and bullets to one tribe. The traditional enemies of that tribe would suddenly become very vulnerable as they only had African made weapons such as spears or knives. To survive they too would need to get guns but the Europeans would demand their price… gold… ivory… and worst of all slaves. Through these mechanisms African societies were thrown into chaos… guns and other western style ‘luxury’ goods were used as ways to overturn power structures and bleed Africa dry.

Does this paint a shameful picture of a time gone by? Are things so very different today? It’s greed that makes today’s trading moguls use slave and child labour to bring us those low prices we demand for our consumer goods. It’s quite clear that we’re still living in that same materialistic world that gives greed the upper hand over morals and ethics.

Then colonialism

Eventually the trans-Atlantic slave trade was abolished – but note that it was abolished by the same people who had started it. But the Europeans now had a problem… they still desired all that fabulous wealth in Africa - gold, diamonds, copper…. Many historians feel that this is the point where modern day racism was ‘invented’. Prior to this point, despite the horrors of the trans Atlantic slave trade, ordinary people felt no racial divide and in European societies Africans were seen as no different than anyone else. The port cities of England had high populations of Africans who lived amongst the other people – there was no concept of racial ghettos.

But the Europeans needed a reason to get their hands on the riches of Africa and so invented the theory that Africans were somehow backward and needed ‘civilising’. It was at this point that the ancient kingdoms of Kush, Axum, Nok, and others were put in the shredder and the ‘clean slate’ version of African history began. This is the history that I was taught at school and it is still held as common knowledge today. Sadly it’s still taught in schools in Africa to Africans – that there was nothing much in Africa until the Europeans arrived.

Between them the European nations decided who was going to ‘civilise’ which parts of Africa and then occupied the areas they had chosen. They put some icing on the cake – they built a few schools and hospitals in the places where they chose to put large towns or capitals. They built roads and railways to help them get the minerals they desired to the ports that they built for themselves. This was about the sum total of their ‘civilising’.

And then independence

At last… something good to report. Independence!!! While it is a big, big improvement on both slavery and colonialism, in fact it was more of a continuation of colonialism than a true independence. “Nation states” were created out of the regional agreements between the Europeans. Africans had no say in the new borders and those who understood Africa warned against the peril of the nation state borders. They were not listened to.

Thus, many of the wars that you see today were given birth to at independence. The “Anglo-Egyptian Condominium of Sudan”, as it was known during colonialism, was turned into one country called “The Sudan”. The make up of this newly formed country was a recipe for disaster – a Moslem north where the capital and seat of government was located and a traditional, pastoralist African south. Neither culture had anything in common with each other but suddenly found themselves one nation. Naturally it was an unliveable situation and soon a civil war started that continues until today. An already delicate balance was further upset by the subsequent discovery of oil in the southern part of the country so now greed has become a factor in what was already a war of identity.

The Tutsis and Hutus are now world famous for genocide but it didn’t come out of nowhere. Due to the complex relationship between land use and seasons in Africa it’s not uncommon for one piece of land to have different owners at different times of the year. For centuries the Hutus and Tutsis cohabited the plains between what is now Rwanda and Burundi. Like all neighbours, they had disagreements but had sophisticated power balance agreements that coped with them. Then a western style international border was drawn right through those plains and the centuries of multiple land use was abruptly halted. Both sides were sold sophisticated arms that replaced their spears and knives. The violence of the genocide can easily be traced back to the frustrations of trying to live with unliveable borders.

Much of the poverty in the rural areas of Africa can be explained by the design of the new nation states. Most of Africa is rural – remote areas where there is no infrastructure. Europeans didn’t like those places – they liked to be near the ports and any centres of trade that already existed. Quite understandably the Europeans placed the capital cities – and with it the seats of government and ministries – where they wanted them to be. They gave the best jobs to the tribes and inhabitants who lived near to their chosen capitals. These favoured Africans were the ones who were given the reigns of power at independence and it’s these structures that are still in place today.

But are they democratic? No way – nor were they ever supposed to be. They were, once again, designed by Europeans to keep ‘their’ African countries loyal to them. Those who were loyal to the Europeans received favours – contracts, bribes, kickbacks… there are many forms some legitimate, some not. Naturally these people who have been cooperating with the Europeans have themselves made a lot of money… market forces again. But the fact remains that until now the majority of rural Africans have no meaningful voice in the nation state power structures.

Post independence greed for African wealth expressed itself in other ways. The super powers, as they were then known, used Africa as a stage to fight out their differences and sell massive amounts of modern weaponry. In a repeat of the arming of African peoples during slavery, the superpowers poured arms into Africa. Countries were labelled pro or anti communist according to how much they spent on arms – not on how well off their people were. The arms dealers are still peddling their wares in Africa as much as ever – if there ever was a vehicle of mass destruction it’s the arms trade to Africa.

Ignorance is the enemy…

Africa’s biggest problem is that nobody understands it. Make sure you’re not part of that problem. As you can see from what I’ve said Africa’s history has been written by outsiders in such a way as to paint it black. Do you own research and you’ll find a completely different story. The next time you see one of those depressing pictures resolve to get to the bottom of how it came about. And who knows… when you understand you may find yourself in a position to make some changes for the better. But staying ignorant will keep the situation as it is.

If you get a chance visit Africa or, even better, live there for a while. You will see what you can’t see in those depressing pictures. You will find people who are full of energy, life, creativity and optimism – despite circumstances that we would find overwhelmingly depressing. Their day-to-day struggle – fetching water, walking 20 kilometres to school, eating only once a day – would be too much for us. But they have an inner joy that we have lost. Although, like us, they also want material goods, they place their value in other things such as family, tradition and companionship. In their own eyes they aren’t poor – they’re only poor in money but not in life.

And we have much to learn from African societies… For example, in African societies there are none of the traumas of adolescents and teenagers. As you grow you are given responsibilities that match your stage in life – the systems differ widely across the continent but the message is clear to all. We all have a place in our family structure and we all have duties and responsibilities to each other. The reward we get will be their support and companionship in a hostile world.

Many western societies are searching for something that is now being called ‘family values’ that we have lost. Africans weren’t so careless – despite their hardship and suffering their family ties are as strong as ever. Without their family, Africans would feel themselves truly poor.

Recommended Reading

Any or all books by the noted historian Basil Davidson in particular the following:

Africa in History

African Civilization Revisited

African Genius

The Interesting Narrative by Olaudah Equiano

This is the first hand experience of a young boy who was captured at the height of the slave trade. He regained his freedom, got an education and eventually settled in England.

The Scramble for Africa

Find out how the borders of modern Africa came about – and how Africans had nothing to do with them!

Finalist in the SMME Awards

2003-10-01T10:46:00.000+01:00

eShopAfrica.com was chosen as a finalist in the Information and Technology sector of the 2003 SMME Awards organised by the Africa Centre for Investment Analysis in partnership with the University of Stellenbosch Business School in South Africa. The competition is designed to showcase the best of African small and medium sized business entrepreneurs.

Security IT world - Africa confronts cyber crime

2003-06-20T14:12:00.000+01:00

Law enforcement agencies and ISPs (Internet service providers) in Africa are trying to stem a wave of cybercrime originating from some parts of the continent. Read more

eCommerce in Africa - Making it Happen

2003-05-23T09:26:00.004+01:00

By Cordelia Salter, Founder of eShopAfrica.com

This talk was given as part of the AITEC West Africa Conference at the Accra International Conference Centre, Ghana, May 2003.

Introduction

Since the days of the Internet boom we've been hearing that ecommerce is going to change the way Africa does business. The details of this transformation always remained somewhat fuzzy so it's time to take a look at the nuts and bolts of ecommerce in Africa and to evaluate how its doing so far. As it stands the ecommerce in Africa is worth about $31 million – with $30 million of this coming from South Africa.

Apart from my own experiences running an African ecommerce website eShopAfrica.com and covering ecommerce issues for Balancing Act News Update a newsletter covering technology issues in Africa, I will also be referring to a recent report called “The Reality of Ecommerce in Developing Countries” by The London School of Economics and the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex. This report studied the impact of emarketplaces in the horticultural and garments sectors in Kenya, South Africa and Bangladesh but I believe their findings are applicable across the ecommerce in Africa field.

The ecommerce components

Ecommerce is not a single commodity. It is made up of various unconnected components and, in theory, if you can juggle all these components you can make your business happen on the Internet. But each of the components has its own peculiarities and idiosyncrasies especially when interfacing with Africa.

Technology:

Two years ago I was also speaking on ecommerce issues here at AITEC but then the burning issue was software and connectivity. In fact my talk was based on a software suitable for use under the connectivity conditions at the time. We've come long way since then.... The capitals of Africa all now have more than adequate connectivity and there is no shortage of capable IT companies able to provide the software and hosting required. So you can say that the 'e' in ecommerce is in good shape. The entry level costs do remain high for African businesses both in terms of computer equipment and, even harder, in trained and capable staff. There's no point spending your time and resources on an expensive web presence if there aren't the real people behind it able to follow through and make it happen.

Taking payments:

If you're entering the ecommerce arena some kind of payment has to take place. If you're merely migrating existing business to the internet then you will most likely continue on with your old payment mechanisms that you have been using offline. If however your business is going to rely on taking payments over the internet then you have some thinking to do.

For the ecommerce amateur there are a variety of solutions such as PayPal or NoChex who allow for 'members' of the service to take and receive payments between each other. They work globally and are popular for small payment between individuals. PayPal is particularly popular because of its association with eBay.

For serious ecommerce these payment solutions are not quite up to it. Both parties must be 'members' and your customer may not be willing to go to the trouble of opening a PayPal account just to make a payment to you. It's more likely they'd look for another site that takes credit cards.

Taking credit cards... becoming a 'merchant' - the holy grail of all ecommerce sites. Without the ability to accept major credit cards such as Visa or Mastercard you are unable to use the most popular method of payment over the internet. If your business operates in Europe or America and has places of business and bank accounts there, then getting merchant status is not difficult – there is no shortage of payment service providers – such as WorldPay, Nexus, Datacash - the people who interface between you and the major credit card companies.

However if your business and bank accounts are based in sub-Saharan Africa then you face a virtually closed door. Prior to 9/11 there were loopholes. When eShopAfrica started trading on the Internet in 2000 we took advantage of one of these loopholes – the payment service provider didn't really mind where the business was as long as it was 'on the Internet' and had a trading address somewhere – in our case in Accra. However new post 9/11 legislation means that the payment service providers must implement a scheme called 'Know your Customer'. Under this scheme they must be able to visit the trading address of the company – which must be in the UK.

There is a South African route which requires a business presence and bank account there – it's circuitous but an option but the bottom line is that taking credit cards is a big barrier to trade. If you can't take credit cards you have to rely on old world payment mechanisms such as bank transfers and cheques by mail or courier.

Marketing:

The Internet is a crowded place and is getting more and more crowded by the minute. Before you start your ecommerce business you must put a lot of time and thought into how you're going to market it. Mailing lists have less and less value as people get more and more flooded with spam. You may be lucky and get responses to emails but don't be surprised if no-one answers. Everyone's just too busy. Emailing people that you already know or already have some connection with may be more successful. You can also check out the news groups and user communities for your subject area - you're much more likely to get an answer from someone already in your field than from complete strangers.

You can register your site with search engines and make sure your keywords are meaningful. If you want a higher listing you can pay for a sponsored link which makes your website come up before the search results. These services cost – on Google the more popular a keyword is the more you pay. You have to think hard whether your target market is on the Internet – not somewhere else – and that this will be effective for you. Check to see where your rival sites list.

Part of the expectations of ecommerce was that producers were going to be able to trade directly with customers cutting out all the middle men and liberating huge amounts of money. So far things haven't quite turned out like that. One of the first things we have to do is to define what we mean by 'middle men'. Although they are often touted as exploiters, in fact 'middle-men' also offer valuable services such as ensuring quality or expediting sales in other locations. They are 'middle men' but they are also valuable links in the chain. We also have to face the fact that there are 'middle men' who do exploit – and who block business happening until they get their share. They're not going to give up just because of new technology so, ecommerce or not, they have to be factored into the supply chains.

There are many trade portals and emarketplaces that act as listing services for businesses. Some are global, some are by region, some are by theme. Most only require online registration but offer no guarantee or verification between members. In other words, they want no responsibility for the people who list with them. In the recent report 'The Reality of Ecommerce in Developing Countries' it was found that the number of orders that come through emarketplaces is relatively small – certainly not the ecommerce revolution we were expecting. There are closed or private market places. Some require payment, some require real world back up such as a visit to business premises. EshopAfrica is listed in many of these free emarketplaces – we get the odd query but nothing that has led to a sale yet. Most of all we get emails from Asian suppliers of fake African products trying to sell to us!

At this point you start asking yourself that, apart from Amazon, where is there an ecommerce success story? There aren't really any for Africa yet but one particular development in the western markets is a bit alarming – particularly for supplier countries. Big companies who are normally rivals – such as the US car companies – are collaborating on their procurement by joining together and creating closed market place to which they invite suppliers. This is driving supplier prices even further down and because of the competitive nature of the bidding process many suppliers find themselves agreeing to unprofitable contracts – they are so desperate to get the sale. This is sobering... we all know the days of internet philanthropy are over – there just isn't the money around anymore. But we should all be watching to make sure that the Internet doesn't also become a tool of exploitation.

Shipping and trade barriers:

If you're lucky enough to be selling an electronic product then you can just click and your delivery is done. If not... you have a whole new ball game to contend with. For small products there are a choice of couriers – unfortunately they're expensive, especially in relationship to African economies. It is not uncommon for the shipping for an eShopAfrica order to cost more than the products and we lose orders because of it. There are also the options of air freight and sea freight but all of us who have had experience with these sectors know that they are not exactly 'click and go'. They are labour intensive and very costly timewise – and there are a lot of 'middle men'! All these things have to be factored into the price of your product.

One of the boom time dreams was that a farmer in a rural areas would be able to log on and sell their produce at the best global price they could find, leapfrogging all the mean middle men who had been repressing them for years. If an enlightened cocoa farmer in northern Ghana logged on today and sold his crop of cocoa beans on eBay to a fair trade store in the US, he'd be in for a big surprise. For starters cocoa is – still - protected by all kinds of trade agreements and soon the farmer would find his way blocked by bureaucracy. Even if he managed to start the export process he'd have to take care of quality inspection issues and export and shipping which would, undoubtedly wipe out any possible profit he could have made on his direct sale. Even if the beans made it to the US the purchaser would be in for a few surprises from the US agriculture department... but that's their problem!

This is the essence of another finding in the London School of Economics report. It was visualised that the tidal wave of technology would be so strong that it would sweep away all evil old world mechanisms. We have all now come to realise that the power of technology is nowhere near strong enough to tackle such dinosaurs as the current world trade agreements and the African banking system.

Summary and forecast

So to summarise I would say that the 'e' in ecommerce is doing very well indeed. Technology has proved itself up to the job and is waiting in the wings for a role. The 'commerce' part of ecommerce is not in such good shape. As we have seen there are many disincentives to ecommerce if you are an African business – the entry level costs are high both in terms of computer equipment and staff. Added to that the global world trade playing field is not level.

The Internet does offer huge opportunities for new contacts and new opportunities. Because the bright lights of the Internet boom came from the West, everyone looks in that direction. In doing this I think they're missing an opportunity. For the first time ever Africans in every capital of the continent can get in touch with each other quickly, easily, affordably. This is unprecedented and offers huge new opportunities. They say nature abhors a vacuum but at the moment there is a huge vacuum where their could be inter-African trade.

This is historic – until the Internet communication in Africa was a roundabout affair with telephone calls between Ghana and Togo going via Paris and air travelers having to fly via Europe to get to their African destination. Now with easy communication new links can be forged between Africans all over the continent who can explore the new opportunities that this contact will bring.

There are also other players coming on to the field. The Asian tigers of China and India are gradually creeping in and I think it's safe to say that the west won't always be the dominant culture on the Internet – so look around for new opportunities.

Government Technology International

2003-04-28T21:47:00.000+01:00

eShopAfrica Eager to Break Into The Global Market. eShopAfrica.com is a Ghanaian fair trade e-commerce website that sources arts and crafts direct from traditional African artisans. Part of their challenge is to prove that e-commerce can work for Africa. However, their target markets are far away and they need help accessing them. Read more...

African crafts go online - BBC online

2003-02-03T20:21:00.000Z

Traditional African craftsmen are starting to sell their wares to collectors on the other side of the globe, thanks to...

Read this article

BBC online news Feb 03

2003-02-03T07:41:00.001Z

Traditional African craftsmen are starting to sell their wares to collectors on the other side of the globe, thanks to... Read more.

Wall Street Journal, Jul 02, Michael Phillips

2002-07-15T07:22:00.000+01:00

...Cordelia Salter, who runs an African-goods retail Web site called eShopAfrica.com here, recently approached Mr. Millet about displaying his products online... Read more

Wall Street Journal, May 02, Michael Phillips

2002-05-22T07:32:00.000+01:00

... A business called eShopAfrica.com sells Africana online. Products include hand-carved Ga coffins that are shaped like airplanes, shoes and howitzers, all designed to reflect the earthly interests of the recently deceased. Read more

Fashion with a Conscience, Rome, Italy

2002-01-31T09:45:00.002Z

Cordelia Salter, Founder of eShopAfrica.com participated in the Moda Mania Event, 2002 organized by Marymount International School in Rome, Italy. She presented a seminar called "Fashion with a Conscience" on how to make ethical design decisions by incorporating arts and crafts from Africa. The students were shown a wide range of African textiles, beads and other artefacts and given information about the artisans that make them.

Finalist in the Stockholm Challenge

2002-01-09T09:37:00.000Z

eShopAfrica was a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge 2002, a global competition that looks for innovation and originality in the use of ICT. The Stockholm Challenge was closed after the 2006-2008 competition.

eShopAfrica.com made 'lead' company

2001-06-15T20:05:00.000+01:00

AMEX, a USAID project designed to increase non-traditional exports from Africa, has made eShopAfrica.com a 'lead' company. It has chosen us an example of how ecommerce can be used to achieve their objectives and wants other businesses to follow our example. They are giving us valuable and timely support in building up our business fast - here are some of the reasons why eShopAfrica was chosen:

Africa's Shopping Mall Launched

2001-04-15T20:10:00.000+01:00

Computer and Technology News, Ghana

An African art and craft ecommerce website has been launched in Accra. The website eShopAfrica.com is a business to business site with the objective of selling indigenous African manufactured products online to retailers and resellers around the world. Read this piece

Launch Press Release Feb 01

2001-02-08T19:51:00.000Z

eShopAfrica.com, a fair trade ecommerce website operating out of Ghana, West Africa is launching this week. eShopAfrica.com brings you top quality African arts and crafts made by traditional African artisans many of who currently live in povoery. The world has been told to buy more from Africa - we want to help them. Read the launch press release