We’re delighted to hear that it’s now possible to buy incredible African products while supporting sustainable job creation in countries like Madagascar, Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya. Proudly Made in Africa (PMIA) is an Irish charity promoting Africa’s world-class products globally. They strive to promote “trade not aid” messaging in everything they do and emphasise that creating sustainable African jobs is the best solution to African poverty.

Feena Kirrkamm, Head of Operations at Proudly Made in Africa, says, “We’re changing up charity. We empower African producers to trade their world-class products globally. The result? Sustainable trade, not aid. By supporting African producers, connecting them with buyers, promoting their products and educating consumers, Proudly Made in Africa is empowering people.”

These innovative African businesses not only produce organic, fairly traded, environmentally-friendly, award-winning products but also support female empowerment in Nairobi, Kenya and Tanzania, add value to improve livelihoods working towards living income, and are leading habitat conservation efforts of the mountain gorilla.

PMIA supports, connects and promotes these African businesses and now sells their products through the online store. Shop everything from organic teas, spices and cocoa beans to handmade soft toys, natural soaps, vegan certified Great Taste Award-winning chocolate, and the world’s first Fair Chain coffee. You can also make a donation here to ensure PMIA can continue their important work.

Feena adds, “We are so excited to see our online store live. Our vision for PMIA is a world where African communities thrive, trading on equal terms with the rest of the world, and our shop is just one more piece of that puzzle.”

The Proudly Made in Africa story began in 2008 with the founder’s vision that ending African poverty means enabling African industry to thrive and create decent work for local communities. With the support of two friends and a firm belief that capturing the value of natural resources locally was the key to prosperity, Proudly Made in Africa was created and, within a year, they had producer projects running in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Since then, they have supported over 700 businesses and entrepreneurs across 15 countries on the continent of Africa, creating hundreds of jobs and connecting ethically-minded buyers with responsibly sourced African products. Here in Ireland, they’ve promoted the excellence of African industry to almost 20,000 business students through their education programmes.

Get to know the producers

MIA Chocolate (Madagascar) is a luxury bean-to-bar single origin chocolate bar range. MIA is vegan certified and winner of four Great Taste Awards. MIA boasts unique flavours including Hemp and Almond and Baobab Salted Nibs. MIA was also recently named the third most ethical chocolate company in Europe by EthicalConsumer.org (Mars and Cadbury not even making the top 40). They scored high on issues of climate change and worker’s rights.

Moyee Coffee (Ethiopia) is the world’s first Fair Chain coffee. Moyee works to reduce deforestation in the coffee supply chain. Roasted at source means they add value to improve livelihoods working towards living income.

Gorilla Coffee (Uganda) creates high-quality single-origin Arabica and Robusta coffee. The focus of Gorilla Coffee is to improve the livelihoods of coffee farmers through value addition and directly sourced from farmer co-operatives. The team at Gorilla Coffee also work to conserve the habitat of the famous mountain gorillas.

Kazi Yetu Tanzanian Teas (Tanzania) are traceable, organic, ethically sourced and innovative. They want to promote value addition and women empowerment in Tanzania. The teas come in colourful sustainable packaging with biodegradable tea bags.

Kenana Soft Toys (Kenya) are handmade soft toys that are empowering over 500 Kenyan women in rural Kenya. The fun, colourful toys are made using organic certified cotton, AZO free dyes and natural plant dyes from plants grown in the area.

All producers are Proudly Made in Africa Awarded, or in the process of achieving. This award independently assesses that all producers align to international standards for high-quality products that are sustainable, socially responsible, fully sourced and packaged in Africa.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.