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Half of the population of Mozambique is forced to live on less than two dollars a day. Furthermore, much of the population needs to walk hours a day to go to school or to reach sources of drinkable water or arable land. Almost 80% of the population are farmers who live off the products they sell locally. Their daily income and their professional productivity are simply dependent on what they can carry or how quickly they can move with their goods. A bike can therefore have an enormous impact on their daily lives. A huge benefit to education and trade, and as such, a very efficient escape from extreme poverty.

Mozambikes is a bike producer in Mozambique with an outspoken social ambition. Using bikes, Mozambikes wants to make basic needs more accessible and, in doing so, fight poverty. People who live below the poverty line can gain access to a bike of their own via Mozambikes. The system works with donations, sponsored bikes and micro-credits.

Mozambikes is the only bike factory in Mozambique, a country with 28 million residents. Rui and Lauren, the founders of Mozambikes, are driven entrepreneurs in various sectors. Mozambikes is the product of a clear social ambition: making a tool available that will help the rural population realise their dreams and ambitions.

With a team of 25 employees, Mozambikes produces one single type of bike: they are sturdy and specially designed for rural areas. The organisation is thus providing employment for young people who may become bicycle makers.

Mozambikes has ambition. The organisation wants to expand its role as a social company, increase production and establish a larger distribution network. The model may even be exported to neighbouring countries such as Malawi (where Exchange is also active) and partnerships with foreign partners are also possible.

Exchange has a lot of faith in this social growth programme. It demonstrates how a simple idea can be a gigantic step up for people in poverty. Bike-crazy Flemish as we are, this is a growth programme that’s close to our hearts.

Kleine landbouwers omscholen tot agripreneurs dat is de missie van Gudie Leisure Farm (Oeganda).

Gudie Leisure Farm (GLF) is a city farm located in the suburbs of Kampala. As a social business, GLF wants to train smallholder farmers to become true agricultural entrepreneurs: agripreneurs. GLF developed the ‘Agripreneur Champions System’. This gives farmers practical training at the city farm or their own farms. As well as on areas such as poultry, pig farming, aqua culture and greenery, the highly practical training focuses on business-related subjects that guarantee the sustainable growth of the agro-companies.

Since it was founded in 2009, the social business has trained at least 63,720 farmers. In addition, the company carried out an assignment in the context of livestock management for the Belgian development agency Enabel. Mastercard Foundation also firmly believes in the potential of Gudie Leisure Farm and therefore decided to offer the agricultural school long-term financial support!

The ultimate dream of GLF is to become an open university for agriculture in Uganda. To reach that goal, the organisation first wants to focus on the construction of a fully functional training centre. GLF is adamant that they are recognised for the superior quality of their training and education courses. As such, Exchange and GLF are working together to set out a growth programme that will allow their ambitious goals to be fulfilled. As GLF is driven by passion and social engagement, Exchange is also convinced that the growth programme will not just lead to positive economic consequences for GLF itself, but will indirectly deliver improved socio-economic conditions for the smaller farmers in Uganda.

Manumetal is a furniture manufacturer in Kigali (Rwanda). Established more than fifty years ago, Manumetal started as a Belgian company, but is now privately owned by Rwandans. As the name intimates, the focus for Manumetal initially lay on metal furniture. Over the years, they delved into wooden furniture production. Recently, even aluminium furniture has found its place.

Manumetal is ambitious and is surfing along on the wave of growth currently being enjoyed by the Rwandan market. The company wants to optimise its potential for innovation and the opportunities offered by diverse and high-quality local expertise. In doing so, Manumetal will respond to the needs of the growing Rwandan middle class.

Exchange and Manumetal have worked together in recent years. In 2018, we decided to transform this collaboration into a growth programme. First and foremost, the growth programme aimed to improve the efficiency of the production of metal and wooden furniture. New, modern designs, and the production of high-quality chairs are among the ambitions of the growth programme. Better quality and design will create infinitely more potential for the domestic and foreign markets.

When we speak about the foreign market, we do not just look at Congo and Uganda as export countries. An introductory meeting was also held with a delegate from IKEA.

Ambitions of this sort bring necessary challenges with them. In the first place, there are the logistic challenges related to machines, infrastructure and distribution. In addition, there are challenges in terms of marketing and product quality.

In August 2018, the programme coach from Exchange worked together with the local manager Mr Bayigamba on the pillars for the Manumetal growth programme. The growth plan consists of three pillars that need to form the basis for the sustainable growth of the company:

MOVE, DIVERSIFY, GROW

MOVE: Just like many other companies in Kigali, Manumetal was required to relocate to the industry zone outside the city on short notice. Exchange will provide an architect and technical expert to efficiently prepare and guide the move. With the right approach, the move could be turned into an opportunity for Manumetal. Could the mechanical installations be improved? Could the production spaces be more efficiently set up? How could the production process be organised to make it more in line with lean principles? The goal is to have the relocation completed by the end of 2020.

DIVERSIFY: Manumetal wants to diversify ins markets, ins products (including design products) and its customer segments (including high-end customers). Meanwhile, the Exchange coach ensured that Manumetal could already enter into various partnerships. Through these partnerships, Manumetal can appeal to a larger market segment. An Exchange marketing expert guides Manumetal to put their new products on the market. Another Exchange expert ensured that the marketing manager of Manumetal could do an internship here in Flanders with various Flemish furniture manufacturers in order to gain new ideas. An expert carpenter will train the staff in perfect finishing of the products, so that they can also appeal to other customers and other markets. Finally, an investment expert and financial expert will look at how Manumetal can attract investors, save and make smart investments in view of the relocation.

GROW: Manumetal wants to grow and therefore focuses on export. Growth means more complex processes. That's why an IT expert will help the company to set up a well-integrated digitization of processes. An export expert will guide them in the export process of products. Manumetal is also a progressive company in the field of HR. The company not only scores well on gender equality, but focuses on the dual-learning system that aims to address the shortage of highly skilled technicians. How? By letting students do apprenticeships in companies. And this they do successfully! Manumetal plays a pioneering role and attracts a very high number of trainees in the workplace. The company is also subsidized for this by the Work Development Agency in Rwanda.

Manumetal also started a partnership with Mass Design, an American-Rwandan architect collective that strongly focuses on architecture that promotes justice and human dignity. In addition to designing buildings, Mass Design is also very strong in interior design. Manumetal will take care of the production of this interior and will also offer a number of furniture in the Manumetal catalog. Moreover, the designers of Mass Design and Manumetal will work together on the development of the "affordable housing program" of the Rwandan government. With this program, the government wants to offer low-income and middle-income Rwandans affordable and decent housing in Kigali.

Sokoa is a French company that is one of the leading producers of office chairs in Europe. The company is based in the Basque area of France, an economically disadvantaged region. The mission of the company is to ensure economic development and job creation in this region. Sokoa has also been looking beyond Europe for several years. The company wants to enter the Rwandan market and Manumetal proved to be the ideal partner for this. Therefore, in the new factory hall of Manumetal, a workplace will be provided where Manumetal will assemble chairs for Sokoa and, in time, also produce chairs itself. We look forward to this promising partnership!

Although the SME has now been active for five years, it still acts with a truly ambitious start-up mentality. The fifteen employees are involved in daily decisions and the long-term strategic choices. According to General Director and founder Wilson Kutega, this horizontal structure and co-creation are the secrets behind the success. ‘Our employees are more closely connected with our clients. They’re better placed to identify their needs than the management team ever could be,’ he claims. ‘The open communication and involvement of the personnel makes ClinicMaster what it is today: a great place to work, grow and develop your skills!’

In a globalising world, this SME is also being confronted with increasing competition from national and international players. Players who are bringing more innovative products to the market and who can count on larger marketing budgets. It is up to ClinicMaster to maintain its market position in the sector and to invest in innovation and sustainable growth.

Exchange and ClinicMaster signed a long-term partnership. In the meantime, also Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs has joined the partnership. The goal: to remain ahead of the competition and allow the SME to grow.

The SOME IQ action plan was born. It highlights six strategic goal (Sales, Organisation, Market & Marketing, Employees, Innovation and Quality). This ambitious action plan ensures ClinicMaster will grow its client portfolio through better quality and services. As a result of this, they will be able to create even more sustainable employment opportunities in the region. With the growth programme, Exchange and ClinicMaster are aiming to make ClinicMaster the leading IT company in the Ugandan health sector.

Bergrivier municipality in South-Africa runs a programme called "Garbage and waste as an opportunity".

In July 2018, representatives from Exchange travelled to Bergrivier in South Africa. The purpose of this study trip? A partnership focused on strengthening the ‘Turning Waste Into Prosperity’ programme run by the Bergrivier Municipality.

The Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities, also known as the VVSG (Vereniging van Vlaamse Steden en Gemeenten), has an international twin cities agreement with Bergrivier. Under this programme, Heist-op-den-Berg is the twin to Bergrivier. The Flemish municipality also plays a role in this partnership.

In preparation for the growth programme, an assessment was performed on the current situation in the Bergrivier Municipality. GreenCape, a South African non-profit organisation with a focus on green economy, ran the assessment. Using recommendations from GreenCape and in consultation with Bergrivier Municipality and Heist-op-den-Berg (linked city), an action plan was drafted by the growth-programme coach. The first volunteer experts were immediately appointed. The growth programme will primarily focus on the collaboration with local recycling companies, composting and raising awareness.

Awareness remains the key in the waste and garbage processing programmes for South Africa.

Bergrivier has already abandoned the concept of public garbage dumps and tips. Concepts such as recycling and separation of waste types at the source have become second nature in the meantime. The recycling of construction waste and glass remain points for improvement. In order to come to sustainable, organised waste management in Bergrivier, innovation, work simplification and education by ‘Waste Ambassadors’ will become the most important spearheads for the partnership.

Delight (U) Ltd. is a private business that has been producing and selling fruit juices on the Ugandan market since 1996. Under the name ‘Cheers’, you’ll undoubtedly find their fresh juices in all local supermarkets. One to remember!

The administrative centre of the company is in Kampala, but the actual corporate activity takes place in the Nwoya district in North Uganda.

The presence of Delight in the region has a clear social and economic impact on the local society. Together with the Danish group aBi Trust, the juice producer is the driving force behind the establishment of the Nwoya Fruit Growers Cooperative Society. This is a cooperative that brings various groups of small farmers together in ‘grower groups’. Thanks to the establishment of the Growers Cooperative, the local farmers receive a fair price for their products. This is an important step forward in the fight against poverty. And it’s happening in an area that was ravaged by the Lord’s Resistance Army not long ago.

Thanks to its social work for the North Ugandan region, Delight has been included in the prestigious list of ‘Companies to Inspire Africa 2019’.

In 2019, Delight began a collaboration with UDC, the government authority for agricultural development, for the construction of a new factory in the Nwoya district. The new factory will be an important move for Delight. Every step in the production chain will be included in the company’s own operations. Delight will cultivate and grow its own fruit, partly via a partnership with the Nwoya Fruit Growers Cooperative Society. Delight will be able to process the fruit into juice itself and take care of the distribution and sale of the juices on its own. In doing so, both Delight and the government hope to become more independent from neighbouring companies that currently control a great part of the market.

To ensure sufficient supply of fruit to the factory, good coordination between Delight and the Nwoya Fruit Growers Cooperative is crucial. Exchange will act as a facilitator in this relationship. For example, we will set up a post-harvesting system in collaboration with the cooperative to get a correct estimate of the harvest. Furthermore, the Delight training center will be used to further train the cooperative and logistical issues will be dealt with. In this way, Delight can continue to live up to its reputation as a smart company. Where profit and social engagement go together.

MHub is a technology hub and business incubator in Lilongwe, Malawi. The company was founded in 2013 by Malawian tech-entrepreneur Rachel Sibande. MHub stimulates technological entrepreneurs with training, competency development and mentoring. Through this, MHub aims to expand the ICT sector in Malawi and increase the employment opportunities across the country. The company has a very strong socio-economic profile and focuses on developing the talents of young people.

MHub offers diverse services:

Mentoring and incubation for tech start-ups;
Organisation of hackathons and start-up courses;
Partnerships with the business world and industry, aimed at the development of technological solutions;
Software development.

There are two major benefits to a partnership between Exchange and MHub. Both the technological challenges (educated employees/trainers and an innovative and powerful offer) and the challenges in relation to business development (diversification of revenue streams) are being tackled, always with an eye on results.

Concretely, this translates into the following goals for the growth programme:

Certifying MHub trainers as CISCO trainers.
Developing high-quality and up-to-date technological services.
Guiding MHub in the commercialisation of their offer.

At Agruni, waste sorting is currently still done by hand on the Nduba dump site. Of course, the organic waste is already 'contaminated' by non-organic waste, making it difficult to make a solid compost from it. It has been proven that compost, provided the correct composition, increases the harvest significantly.

In this growth programme, Exchange will therefore mainly focus on the realization of usable compost on the basis of the collected organic waste. And let that be just one of the areas of expertise in which Flanders plays a pioneering role.

For example, we find a great deal of knowledge at the inter-municipal environmental company Ecowerf in East Brabant. For many years, Ecowerf has been responsible for waste prevention, waste collection and waste processing in 27 municipalities and cities. The company has also achieved a great deal in the domain of composting. Therefore, Exchange Coach Wouter Janssens, from Ecowerf, is extremely well placed to take on this role.

To further optimize the entire chain of operations, Exchange is also working with Agruni to see how current waste collection and transport can be organized even more efficiently.

Agruni is highly noted for its modern HRM policy and social commitments. Outside of the fact that half of the 1,800 employees are female, the company works with a savings fund. Vulnerable and sick employees are still guaranteed incomes. Plus, it offers a micro-financing formula to its own personnel. As a result, they can access loans that are more beneficial than those available through traditional channels. Agruni also supports a range of social projects every year, helping it to be recognised as an eminently sustainable company.

The growth programme with Agruni has great potential: Mr Jean-Paul Shiraniro is a born entrepreneur with plenty of daring. Together with Exchange and Ecowerf, Agruni can ensure that Rwanda can further build on its image as a clean country. The great dream of recycling and valorizing all the collected waste remains. And where there’s a will (and a dream), there’s a way!

ECOWERF

Ecowerf is an inter-municipal environmental company that is responsible for the waste policy of 27 municipalities and cities in East-Brabant, Belgium. Together with those cities and municipalities, Ecowerf is resolutely opting for a sustainable and integral waste policy, a policy that is innovative and plans for the future!
The ambition of the company is far-reaching: Ecowerf wants to be the absolute trendsetter in the field of waste management in Flanders. Limiting the environmental impact of their activities is more important than making a profit.

The Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO) represents the interests of Ugandan tour operators. Tourism in Uganda is increasing in importance as an economic activity. Every year, more than 200,000 tourists enter the country. Virtually all of them do so under the guidance of a tour operator. There’s no need to give any further explanation for why tour operators are the heart of the tourism sector.

Tour operators bring tourists into contact with the right touristic services and activities. They are responsible for 90% of the bookings in safari lodges. Plus, they are also responsible for 90% of the income from the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, most prominently known as the home of the iconic mountain gorilla. It is one of Uganda’s most important tourist draws and is always handled with great care and pride.

A smartly organized network

The growing popularity of tourism in Uganda has resulted in an increase in the client portfolio of the organisation. But there is also a flip side: everyone wants their piece of the pie, but they are not always pursuing it with honesty or in a sustainable manner. There are many unprofessional and unexperienced operators who decide to start their own businesses without thinking things through. The great drop-out of members within the organisation is partially explained by the enormous number of operators who close their doors after a relatively short time.

To come to a more sustainable working method for the many tour operators, Exchange and AUTO entered into a three-year partnership. The partnership aims to provide a consultation platform in co-creation with the tour operator. This will eventually lead to more professionalisation. The focus will lie wholly on incoming tourism from abroad; it is currently the most important market.

Seeing the central and linking role played by AUTO in the Ugandan tourism landscape, other Ugandan partners also want to come on board. This will allow the services of various players in the sector to be better tuned to each other, resulting in a well-oiled tourism machine. Do you have upcoming travel plans? The Ugandan tour operators are at your service!

Malawi is an agricultural country. Small farmers are behind the vast majority of the agricultural products. For small farmers with limited resources for packaging, storage and transport, it is not easy to bring their harvests to market. This results in small producers being stuck with the leftovers, all while the major supermarket chains, searching for reliable supplies of quality products, often import from South Africa. It’s vitally important that small farmers are integrated into the market.

Until now, Tradeline has primarily functioned as a consultancy organisation. The strategy for 2019–2023 was recently revised with a more commercial role and a mission for the company itself.

Tradeline and Exchange will collaborate on:

Setting up a distribution centre for sorting, packaging and marketing fruit and vegetables.
Facilitating the market access of the farmer organisationsthat perform the marketing of the harvests. That may be done by having access to more storage space for dry foods and acting as a broker, organising delayed sales.
Strengthening the micro-financing body Tradeline so that they are better aimed at the right target group of small producers.

The ultimate goal of Tradeline is to strengthen the local market. This will make them less dependent on the import of fruit and vegetables from South Africa. The capacity is there. It is important to invest in knowledge, transport and storage capacity.

The Exchange team includes experts in micro-financing and professionals from the fruit-and-vegetable-auction sector. There has been a collaboration set up with REO Veiling, Flemish pioneer in the setup of a cooperative auction structure, and BRS (Belgische Raiffeissenstichting), an expert in micro-financing. For the cherry on top, the Malawian agricultural minister visited REO Veiling in March 2018.

This very strong triumvirate of experts will raise Tradeline to a higher level.

Project Type: Current

Bike out of extreme poverty

Socially doers

Social entrepreneurship and sustainable farming companies: a booming business in Uganda!

From small farmer to clever entrepreneur

A passionate entrepreneur behind the wheel

GLF as the agricultural training institution

Sustainable growth with an eye on the international market

Ambition and challenge, hand in hand

A well-thought-out growth plan

Innovative partnerships

Smart IT for a stronger health sector

Software to help people

The start-up mentality

Innovation that keeps you ahead of the competition

Garbage and waste as an opportunity

Say ‘Cheers’, to social fruit juices!

Profit and social engagement go hand in hand

A big step towards self-sufficiency

Cooperative as a lifeline

Technology hub with outspoken social goals and a woman in charge

CISCO instructors and diverse revenue streams lead to high-quality growth

What’s garbage for one is energy for another

The secret behind the clean streets of Kigali

Waste gives agriculture an extra boost!

Expertise from the pioneering region Flanders

Agruni and social innovation

Tour operators: the heart of the blossoming Ugandan tourism industry

Tradeline hits the road with local farmers

Market access for local farmers

A strong local market for Malawi

Flemish government/partners (REO and BRS)

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