Event Announcement: Social Enterprise in Cork- Seminar

Monday 26th November, 9.30am- 4.30pm, Jury's Hotel, Great Western Road, Cork.
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The West Cork DESEO Partnership has organised a Seminar to illustrate the benefits and potential of the Social Economy sector for the Region.

The Seminar will bring together the principal initiatives to promote these initiatives locally, and gives their drivers a chance to explain their vision and aspirations, their achievements and the obstacles that they face.

In addition to Social Entrepreneurs from Cork and West Cork, the Seminar will include speakers from Cork City and County, the Islands Federation of Ireland, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, West Cork LEADER and Clann Credo, as well as delegates from Northern Ireland and from the European REVES Network.

The Seminar aims to be a watershed event for a more effective partnership between local authorities, social enterprises and communities, as well as an opportunity for prospective social entrepreneurs to find out about the potential of this activity in their region.

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more information available on;
www.carberyhousing.eu

In the headlines...

You may remember the post about Rotemi Adebari, one the social entrepreneurs I interviewed, being elected as the first Black Irish Mayor. I spotted this interesting photo opportunity at an event in Cork yesterday.





The event in question was a seminar organised by Suas, Connect World and Concern on how Africa is represented in the Media. Speaking at the event was, among others, Aoife Kavanagh, an RTE presenter with a keen interest in changing the perceptions of Africa in the Irish media.

In summary- things have to change. Agreed!

New Trade Linkages- From Uganda to Ireland

This small, crazy world of connections…

Back last year, when I was in Uganda, I tried to track down a fair trade coffee entrepreneur called Andrew Rugasira- but to no avail. Andrew had been recommended for an interview on a few different occasions, as a man with a broad vision and the determination to develop Uganda’s coffee supply market in an ethical and sustainable way. He is founder and CEO of Rwenzori Coffee (now Good African Coffee), but his packed and busy lifestyle meant that he was hard to find!

But two days ago, in a hotel conference room, in Cork, his name came up again. I was photographing a seminar with an organisation called Traidlinks, a new Irish NGO which connects businesses in Ireland to businesses in the developing world. Andrew, it seems, has been busy building links with Irish coffee businesses to learn and expand his own market.



(Paddy Maguinness- Concern, The Ambassador of Lesotho to Ireland, and Tony Barry from Barry's tea, speaking at the Traidlinks event)

Good African Coffee and Traidlinks have a lot in common. Both are of the opinion that foreign aid is not enough to make development work, but that trade is the key factor in generating employment and building communities. Good African Coffee respond to this by splitting profits 50:50 with their produces, and Traidlinks respond by getting interested business people in Ireland to share their knowledge, link with businesses in the developing world and create market space in Ireland for African products.

Traidlinks have helped Bewley’s coffee (one of the longest established coffee importers in Ireland), to link with Andrew. A team from Good African Coffee have come to Ireland to learn about Bewley’s chain of coffee shop; everything from roasting the bean to working behind the counter in the cafes. It is a fantastic example of the power of the private sector to accelerate development.

In another effort, Traidlinks, together with Barry’s Tea, Bewley’s, Jacob Fruitfields and a number of other companies in Ireland have teamed up to develop the Heart of Africa products; coffee, tea, dried fruits and nuts, importing products, redistributing the profits back to the producers and trying to get more African products on Irish shelves. Heart of Africa products are currently available in the leading supermarkets…(I particularly recommend the dried mango (yum) and I am drinking their coffee as I speak!)



This is a new form of collaboration in Ireland- as the corporate sector forges links with the development sector. It is early days yet as Heart of Africa breaks new ground, as the development sector opens up to new ways of thinking, and as local African entrepreneurs find different ways to enter the highly competitive European market.

I’ll be watching the space… and I may get to interview Andrew yet!