Made in Africa: The Beauty Africa Brings to the World

This post is by UBC MasterCard Foundation Scholar, Blooming Soyinka, and was originally published on the MasterCard Foundation’s blog.

I remember the day the dean of the University of British Columbia called to tell that I had won the scholarship, and the tears of joy, not just on my face but on my mom’s face.

I knew that this was getting me a step closer to building Africa Blooms and giving me a platform to be able to change the story of Africa. I want to give the world an opportunity to believe in and celebrate Africa.

I want to paint a new story of our continent. The story I want to paint is of an Africa that is not going to be dependent on aid. It’s not going to be an Africa that is stricken with poverty, war, disease, lack or that is dependent on foreign aid.

No, it’s an Africa that people are going to come into and would want to do business with. As my generation begins to create value in our communities, we will collectively break barriers and create an environment in which international businesses and investors will want to conduct business in Africa. It is a story of abundance, self-sufficiency, and growth. That’s the story that I want to paint.

This passion propelled me to start Africa Blooms Companies, an online retail store (and soon with physical stores) that sells products and goods proudly made in Africa. Africa already makes clothes, bags and shoes, but I envision an Africa that creates new industrial frontiers. I envision an Africa that makes its own electronics, industrial machines and sustainable power generation, thus supporting budding new industrial sectors on the continent.

Through Africa Blooms, together we are painting an Africa of innovation and creativity where Africa Blooms will have chains of megastores and every single item in the store would be proudly made in Africa. And people are going to be like, wow. I can’t believe this is made in Africa. I can’t believe that this brand or this product was made in Africa. And that’s because of the quality, elegance and sophistication of the products.

This I believe Africa Blooms will make happen given our dedication to showcasing the beauty Africa has to offer the world. These stores are not just going to be in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, but all across Africa, North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and Antarctica.

Furthermore, I see corporations from different continents trooping down to Africa just to see the way we do business and how Africa is changing the global business landscape. I really see a picture whereby we’re going to be training people on how we conduct business in Africa. It is a story of pride, abundance and sustainable growth.

That’s the Africa that I’m really seeing.

For me, it starts with value creation. I want to see families and communities being transformed just because Africa Blooms came in to the picture. I want to show that people can rise above the poverty line, if given access to opportunities. I want to see life change. I want to see families succeed.

I want a sustainable way for Africans – not just in Nigeria, but across the continent – to say “I can feed my daughter,” or “I can send my daughter to school.” Having a mom tell me, “Because I was able to sell my products through Africa Blooms, my daughter is a doctor, my son is an engineer today.”

For me, it’s about adding so much value in a sustainable way that we will be proud to be able to say: this is the beauty that Africa brings to the whole world.

Today, we are a part-time team of four. But tomorrow, we will grow.

I am not alone – I am part of a generation of Africans who are taking on a leadership role and making change.

I’m so grateful to The MasterCard Foundation and the University of British Columbia, and now to the Tony Elumelu Foundation – these have been great opportunities to grow and sharpen my skills. And I know that elsewhere in North America and Africa, other MasterCard Foundation Scholars like me are benefiting from opportunities that will help them grow as well.

In the long run we’re building an Africa that is sustainable, an Africa that is not dependant on aid, an Africa that doesn’t have to be living under a dollar a day. We’re taking the destiny of Africa into our very own hands. Because we believe that nobody can really develop the continent for us.
We, the Africans, we are the ones who are in charge and we can make it happen.

Blooming Soyinka is a MasterCard Foundation Scholar pursuing her Master of Business Administration at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Originally from Ifo, a small village in South Western Nigeria, she holds an undergraduate degree in Economics and Accounting from Illinois Wesleyan University, in the United States. Blooming is the founder and CEO of Africa Blooms, a company whose “purpose is to positively change the story of the African continent.” Blooming is a 2015 laureate of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program selected for the program among 20, 000 applicants from across Africa.

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