African Artisans Export Development Program

Vital Voices is helping African women artisans expand their businesses through specialized training in smart marketing, product development, and access to international distribution outlets. With the support of the ExxonMobil Foundation, Vital Voices has completed four export development programs for African women artisans and one training for artisans in Latin America and the Caribbean.

All programs included an intensive three to five day workshop, where participants were provided with training on product design and development, packaging, intellectual property rights, microfinance, branding and marketing, exporting and international trade issues, and pricing and distribution of product in the U.S. market. Experts and trainers evaluated samples of the artisans’ products for aesthetic appeal, quality standards, and price points, and encouraged participants to refine their products or create new ones that might appeal to consumers.

To maximize the impact of the program, Vital Voices connected the artisans with seasoned American and African entrepreneurs who can continue to help these women develop their product lines and build out their businesses.

We also partnered with Bridge for Africa, a San Francisco-based NGO that supports African artisans by vending, marketing and distributing their products in the United States. Bridge for Africa staff joined Vital Voices for both programs where they conducted training sessions to help the artisans better understand the U.S. wholesale market as well as the process of export shipment.

Bridge for Africa has already begun to distribute products that have been refined from the January training and will continue to distribute participants’ products and sell a select number of the artisans crafts on their website.

Moving, the African women artisans will strive to increase their production capacity as well as refine and expand their products to appeal to a wide-range of American wholesalers and retailers. With Bridge for Africa as their new distributor, each woman will have the opportunity to extend her products to a wider market and expand her business.