makingit_13_pp40-41_good-business_print 11/06/2013 10:12 Page 40
In the fourth of a series focusing on remarkable companies that are making waves in the areas of green industry and sustainable industrial development, Making It talks to Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, the founder and managing director of the Ethiopian footwear company, soleRebels.
soleRebels An innovative footwear manufacturer that pays fair wages and uses locally sourced materials is helping to transform the economic landscape in Ethiopia. soleRebels, which was founded by Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu in 2004, has become Africa’s largest footwear brand, with its range of artisanmade shoes now selling in 55 countries. In 2011, the company ramped up US$2m in sales and it is expecting to generate over US$15-20m in revenue by 2015. Alemu has become one of Africa’s most celebrated businesswomen. She was featured on the front cover of Forbes magazine in January 2012, and was selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum 2011. In June 2012, she won the award for “Most Outstanding Businesswoman” at the annual African Business Awards, organized by African Business magazine.
Export-oriented success story
Her success with soleRebels is regularly cited as a sign that Ethiopia is ready to transition from being reliant on foreign aid to being able to direct its economic future by exploiting home grown skills, resources and business opportunities. The company is also held up as inspiration for Ethiopia’s newly-emerging private sector, particularly as an example of an export oriented success story. Alemu explained how she set up the company in a small village on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, “Having grown up watching our family and neighbours struggling, we decided to create the ‘better life’ we were all waiting for by harnessing our community’s incredible artisan skills and channeling them into a sustainable, global, fair trade, footwear business.” She continued, “We selected shoes because we saw that footwear was an excellent platform to begin to share many of Ethiopia’s indigenous eco-sensible craft heritages and artisan talents with the world. Our approach to footwear creation – hand-crafted and eco-sensible – meant we could source and make almost all our materials locally, thereby creating an export product from 100% local inputs.”
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Tyre-soled shoes
The soleRebels footwear range includes sandals, flip flops and shoes with soles made from recycled car tyres. Alemu explained that the recycled car tyre-soled shoe has existed in Ethiopia for a long time. “It was the footwear from back in the day when the original “soleRebels” fought off the invading forces and kept Ethiopia as the only African nation to never be colonized! We took this wonderful, indigenous, age-old recycling tradition and fused it with fantastic Ethiopian artisan crafts and excellent modern design sensibilities, and turned it into footwear that has universal flavour and appeal.” She is proud of the production process, stating that all the company’s styles incorporate as much recycled and sustainable materials as possible, with ingredients like handspun and hand-loomed organic cotton fabrics, and natural fibres, including Abyssinian hemp and koba. However, she shuns the term, ‘green business’, stating that she regards it as something of a fad. “We are embracing these deeply sustainable and traditionally zero-carbon methods of production and materials because they are integral parts of Ethiopia’s cultural fabric, a tradition which we grew up within and feel passionate about preserving.”
Workers’ rights
soleRebels is also setting a high standard for workers’ rights, providing 100% medical coverage for employees and their families and free doctor-run medical checks, as well as providing transport to and from the worksite for workers with disabilities. Alemu insists that workers are treated with respect, noting that on average the company’s 90 employees get paid four times the legal minimum wage and three times the industry average wage for similar work. Unlike most companies in the apparel and footwear sector, soleRebels does not use a quota system. Alemu explained, “The quota system of work, endemic in the fashion business always struck us as truly demeaning. It is a system that shows no confidence that workers can be incentivized to achieve targets and it creates a hostile working