Shoes from the Ethiopian company SoleRebels, founded by female entrepreneur Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, sell abroad for at least $60. The company grossed $2 million in sales this past year. (NYT)
By JOSH KRON
KAMPALA, UGANDA — Far too often, in the view of Africa’s budding female entrepreneurs, their continent is characterized as the recipient of aid that enables residents just to struggle by, and as a place that mistreats and marginalizes its women…
“I kept hearing over and over the phrase ‘poverty alleviation,”’ said Ms. Tilahun, now a footwear mogul whose company grossed $2 million in sales this past year. “The media, preoccupied with a singular narrative about ‘Africa’ that missed the story of Africa — part of a larger spectrum of endless entities that have monopolized Africa’s image, our brand.”
With SoleRebels, she said proudly, “We’ve inverted the whole paradigm.”
Continue reading at The New York Times.
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Related:
The Ideas Exchange: Conversation With Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu
Interview with Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu
