Huge demand for handicrafts from Africa

More than two decades ago, I took the first of many trips to Japan, thanks to handicrafts. I travelled to sell hand-woven baskets (viondos) and other crafts.

During this same period, I was able to sell my handicrafts to the US during the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. These experiences left me with a deep appreciation of our unique African handicrafts’ immense economic potential.

Just as I made some green money through selling handiworks to a vast foreign market, thousands of traders globally have transformed the sector into a multi-billion dollar industry.

In India, the handicraft sector provides employment to over six million people. In the late nineties, these skilled labourers produced handicrafts whose export earnings were at least $1.2 billion. Although this figure has varied over the years, handicrafts have continued to play a significant role in the country’s economy.

In the same vein, Rwandan hand-woven baskets have stormed the global stage. Popularly known as peace baskets, these products can be found in upscale outlets in the US and Japan. Many of them are exported by Gahaya Links, an export company that is owned by Janet Nkubana. She works with at least 4,000 rural weavers whose intricate and dazzling designs fetch annual revenue of more than $400,000.

Considering that she spent her childhood in a refugee camp in Uganda, Janet has come a long way. She has turned traditional Rwandan crafts into a cash cow transforming lives of thousands.

Each of Kenya’s 42 communities has unique handicrafts. All such handicrafts represent pathways to millions of dollars. The secret lies in the immortal words of Aristotle that, ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’

In other words, 1,000 viondos may not be able to storm the global market but 10,000 quality viondos can. This is the route Janet Nkubana has taken. Her 4,000 weavers are organised in 52 savings cooperatives that organise their labour, optimise their productions and protect their revenue. All this is led by an entrepreneur and not an NGO.

In Kenya, we have unique handicrafts. Where we lag behind is in presenting the entirety of these products to the world through aggressive and smart marketing. This is not a function of government but entrepreneurs who will follow up intelligent homework with diligent legwork. If Janet Nkubana together with the Indians and even some Kenyans right here can do it, so can other handicraft traders.

But even as we seek to make further inroads into foreign markets, many of our handicrafts can also be re-packaged for domestic markets. Our women may not buy the bulky viondos of yesteryear with the same enthusiasm as foreigners but they can be enthusiastic buyers of quality chic hand-woven handbags. The opportunities are endless.