[dropcap custom_class=”normal”] Bukky Asehinde from Nigeria aims to help creative Indigenous businesses in Africa connect to their local and global consumers. [/dropcap]
With the current Rise of Made-in-Nigeria (Africa) products, which is making more Nigerians look inwards to recover from the Recession.
Bellafricana.com is playing a key role in the Nigerian economy by helping as many quality creative small businesses be at the forefront of the market and creating richer platforms to enable them grow.
“We are not in the business of waiting for the government to fix every hole in the economy. We believe in creating and innovating ideas to make our economy a better place”.
As part of her mission to bridge the gap between creative producers of Made-in-Nigeria Non-oil products/crafts and their consumers, Bellafricana, a company owned by Bukky that promotes the beauty of Africa launched an online platform in April, 2016 showcasing unique businesses of products and services made in Nigeria (Africa).
The online platform (www.bellafricana.com) was launched to showcase, promote and celebrate creative local craftsmen and small business owners of Afrocentric brands in Africa. Starting with Nigeria her home-land, the goal is to take it one African Country at a time.
There has been a rise in the number of Afrocentric (made in Nigeria, Africa) brands that have great quality with little or no financing from both the government and bigger institutions.
Bellafricana, an initiative with a focus on Made-in-Nigeria Non-oil products development where customers and suppliers engage and transact aims to bridge the buyer-seller gap and create a wider outreach for Nigerian (African) products locally & globally.
She created a platform to enable creative MSMEs thrive, whilst doing all it takes to bring the quality products to the forefront of the market.
She very much believes that a support group/community for these businesses will enhance the Non-oil export in the Nigerian economy.
Bukky Asehinde wondered –“Why should we wait on financial backing from the government and big institutions to help this industry? When we can create a platform to connect these Afrocentric businesses, they are maximising raw materials in Nigeria (Africa), providing employment for local talents within the country and creating wealth for the Nation”.
After conducting her own research, she soon realised however that the major challenge these businesses are facing majorly has to do with Marketing and understanding the trade, which is the heart of any business.
“Without marketing, a brand will not be visible.”
Bellafricana strives to connect Afrocentric businesses (African crafts) to the consumers. They are assisting these small businesses with marketing which would increase sales, help hire and train more local talents joining the companies which in turn will contribute to the growth of the Nigerian economy and also help decrease the unemployment rate.
In her quest to bring as many quality Made-in-Nigeria (Africa) brands to the forefront of the market, Bukky has put together an initiative to Celebrate Small Creative Businesses with the aim of encouraging more talents in Nigeria (Africa) to look inwards, be original and create more globally acceptable brands.
An initiative called African Creative Exhibition and Awards (termed ACE Awards), backed by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council and endorsed by Lagos State Government, Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nigeria-Britain Association.
The first of its kind in Nigeria (Africa), taking place yearly every April after Easter, a 3 phase event; Conference, Exhibition and Awards Gala.
