This site is under construction, but we can still take your questions and sandal pre-orders!
Akrafena Artisans' Mission
To cultivate local artisans within their own communities across West Africa to enable them to step onto the world stage.
The Story
Akrafena Artisans is an extension of EDUCOA's work to nurture and grow the number of successful entrepreneurs in Ghana. Whereas EDUCOA is working on the education side of building the skills and mindsets that students will need to become employable and entrepreneurs in the future, Akrafena Artisans will show students what they can become by embracing the skills that EDUCOA promotes.
During frequent visits to Ghana, EDUCOA's founder and her husband were often presented with beautifully handcrafted sandals as gifts. They recognized that in order to change the economic narrative of the region that has been has been shaped by the extraction and export of natural resources, the creativity and artistry that is indigenous to the region needs to be shared with the rest of the world. The talents of these local artisans are often not maximized because their production is limited to the demand of the local market. Restricted by the lack of capital and resources that prevents entrepreneurs from scaling and competing in the global market, Akrafena Artisans seeks to identify promising local artisans and provide them with resources and a platform to scale their work.
Akrafena Artisans endeavors to sell unique hand crafted products that will not only directly benefit the communities from which these artisans live and work, but also to EDUCOA, which seeks to educate the next generation of entrepreneurs.
We welcome you to participate in this virtuous socio-economic cycle of consumerism, where each pair of sandals you purchase will go to the local artisans and also provide Internet to a school in the EDUCOA network to build student digital skills and allow them to access the knowledge available to the rest of the world.
Meet Mabel Suglo
View and Order Mabel's Sandals and Other Products through her website.
Mabel Suglo is the Founder and CEO of Dignified Wear, a social enterprise that manufactures and sells durable and versatile foot wears, bags and necklaces made from recycled tires and acrylic beads which creates jobs benefiting the physically challenged, rural women and the communities in which they live. She seeks to inspire people to get creative about re-using materials, extending their life-cycle and at the same time contributing to waste reduction.
Mabel also Co-Founded the international award winning Eco-Shoes www.ecoshoesgh.com in 2013 a Ghanaian based shoe company that train and employ people with disabilities to manufacture shoes from recycled tires and scrap fabric.
She have been featured in BBC Women of Africa documentary and other international media such as Huffington Post, CNN amongst others and got selected to participate in the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit hosted in June by President Barack Obama at the Silicon Valley in San Francisco, California (USA)
Meet James
