Viwanda.africa - Redefining Africa
May 8, 2021 2 min read

Redefining Africa
Made in Africa? That sounds like a pipe dream to many, but our beginnings and motivation can genuinely be captured in that one statement.
Dr. Chomba Chuma
It started with a realization that our communities in Africa are so much dependent on imports for the very basic needs and simple goods that could otherwise be made locally. Production that creates jobs and lowers the cost of living. Employment that alleviates the very poverty that has sunk these communities into destitution. This is not to say that Africa shouldn’t be importing. On the contrary. Africa overreliance on basic items means that it cannot offer value to the world despite abundance of local resources not available elsewhere in the planet. "So, it was in an African village that Viwanda.africa was born; after using imported toothpicks that could otherwise have been made in a local business." This encounter provided context of the fragmented connection between our economies and basic livelihoods in the local communities. Despite abundance of local skill, educated personnel and natural resources, there is starvation amidst plenty. The cycle of poverty and survival for meagre livelihoods leads to misery and indigence that is difficult to get out of. It is disheartening for any parent to watch desolate and hopeless faces of their children, when they cannot provide for basic food, clothing and healthcare needs. "How does a young man provide for his family in a 400 square meter piece of ‘arable’ land, jobless and unskilled?"