Cape Town, South Africa, 9 May 2013 – Five social entrepreneurs were
named today Africa Social Entrepreneurs of the Year at the World
Economic Forum on Africa, taking place in Cape Town, South Africa. The
awards were conferred by Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder of
the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in the presence of
President Jacob G. Zuma, Donald Kaberuka, Nkosazana Clarice
Dlamini-Zuma, David A. Lipton, and Naveen Jindal.
“Social entrepreneurs are an integral community of the World Economic
Forum and an increasingly sought after one,” says David Aikman, a
Senior Director at the World Economic Forum and Head of the Schwab
Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. “A growing number of
corporations see income inequality and environmental problems like
climate change as fundamental threats to their long-term growth. Many
governments are starting to rethink the way they deliver goods and
services that improve social outcomes. I am confident this trend will
only continue to grow in the future, and the Forum is proud to be at
the forefront of catalysing partnerships among these stakeholder
groups for social and environmental change.”
“To improve education and health standards, and eradicate poverty, we
need entrepreneurial solutions. Governmental plans and actions have to
be complemented by innovative ideas taking into account local
conditions,” said Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the
Schwab Foundation.
The following have been selected as the 2013 Africa Social
Entrepreneurs of the Year:
Frederick K.W. Day, Buffalo Bicycle Company, Southern Africa
Rural Africans experience challenges of daily survival, including
limited water, food and fuel, as well as inadequate access to
education and healthcare. With transportation, access to these
elements can be greatly enhanced. Compared to walking, a bicycle
quintuples carrying capacity and quadruples travel distance while
saving time. The Buffalo Bicycle Company is a robust, purpose-built
bicycle designed specifically for African terrain and load
requirements. More than 45,000 have been sold to individuals and
organizations and another 70,000 bicycles have been granted using a
unique work-to-own model.
Anne Githuku-Shongwe, Afroes, South Africa
African youth present an interesting paradox to the continent’s
future: the mobile revolution has created massive potential to inform,
connect and educate youth. On the other hand, these 400 million youth
are disempowered, jobless and considered a threat to the stability of
countries or a burden to states. Afroes uses interactive mobile
learning strategies to teach youth about entrepreneurship and
leadership, and to empower them as citizens to address their
countries’ challenges. To date, Afroes has achieved this through
mobile games for social change, including award-winning MORABA, which
addresses difficult questions on gender-based violence, and HAKI, a
game series built for Kenya by Kenyans to promote national cohesion.
Njideka U. Harry, Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF), Nigeria
Since 2001, YTF has worked in regions of Africa plagued by poverty and
pervasive unemployment, especially among youth and women. YTF Academy
provides beneficiaries with life skills and resources to join the
economic mainstream. Since inception, 40% of YTF Academy graduates
have been employed by local companies in YTF’s partner network, and
are being paid three times the average salary, while 38% have gone on
to become self-employed. YTF Academy has impacted the lives of over
1.5 million youth in Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, South Africa, and
Kenya and, most recently, Colombia.
Chuck Slaughter, Living Goods, Uganda
Living Goods seeks to reinvent how the poor access vital goods and
services, leading to significant gains in the health and wealth of
families living in poverty. Living Goods empowers networks of
micro-entrepreneurs who go door-to-door teaching families how to
improve their health and wealth while selling life-changing products
like simple treatments for malaria and diarrhoea, fortified foods,
safe delivery kits for pregnant mothers, clean burning cook stoves and
solar lights. By combining the best practices of microfinance,
franchising, direct selling and public health, Living Goods is
creating a fully sustainable system to improve the health, wealth and
productivity of the world’s poor.
Andrew Youn, One Acre Fund, Kenya
Rural farmers make up 75% of the global poor. Since 2006, One Acre
Fund has developed an innovative, market-based approach that enables
any poor farmer to double farm profits in one planting season. In
Africa, One Acre Fund provides a unique “market bundle” that brings a
functioning value chain directly to rural farmers. This includes
high-quality seed and fertilizer, financing, weekly farm training, and
post-harvest and market support. Since 2006, One Acre Fund has used
this combination of services to enable farmers to permanently
transform their livelihoods – from poverty to profit-generation.