Capacity Expansion

Opening prospective markets – Africa 2.0

Only few Western companies currently dare engage with Africa. The image of the continent is still negative. If you take a closer look, however, you quickly see economies of numerous African countries growing with impressive speed. You notice that markets are budding that would be especially promising for Western companies.

If you want to be successful in Africa, you need to know the continent. Africa, its countries, the peoples, the history and the mentalities relating to all this are just as diverse as they are elsewhere in the world. Good and promising projects often fail, because the employees know too little about the countries and their culture. They face problems locally because daily life and the reality of it becomes too much to handle.

This is where we come in:

We can provide you and your employees with country and requirement-specific preparation through experts that have profound knowledge of individual countries in Africa. 

And in order to make things easier at the beginning in Africa, we offer individual support through qualified, native contacts.

Our partnership wih SIDI

SIDI, Solidarité International pour le Développement et I’Investissement - International Society for Development and Society, is a social enterprise and officially recognized as such in France. Founded in 1983 by the French NGO CCFD-Terre Solidaire, SIDI strives to contribute to an inclusive economy that offers opportunities to people in poorer countries in Africa and South America.

We (Kairos-Partner) are the official representative and contact for SIDI in Germany. We support SIDI, report on projects and SIDI’s progress with their developing and supporting work in Africa and South America and pass on prospective customers in Germany to the French company.

SIDI works towards an inclusive economy in order to provide economic impulses for a stronger network of local parties and more economic growth in poorer parts of the world. For example:

• Microfinance institutions (MFIs) which offer bank services in places where these barely or don’t exist at all,

•  Producers’ organizations (POs) which work to increase profit for smaller farmers through communities,

• Community-based financing through technical and/or financial support for stronger partners and customers in the projects’ countries.

As a customer in Germany you can now invest in SIDI shares or the investment fund “Faim & Développment”. Both are recognised by Finansol, which guarantees the solidarity and transparency of investment products since 1997.

Between Plague and Paradise - How SIDI fosters development in Madagascar …

In November 2018 Reinhard Micheel spent two weeks in Madagascar for Kairos-Partner on behalf of the French organization, SIDI. There he visited various SIDI partners and projects. During his many years as managing director of de NGO Aktion Canchanabury in Bochum he had gotten into the habit of reporting “live” on his numerous Africa trips to friends and sponsors. Once there he continued his very direct and authentic form of reporting for Kairos-Partner during his trip to Madagascar. You can read his live reports “Between Plague and Paradise”

Prologue

Pirates, merchant ships under full sail, vanilla, pepper, dreamlike beaches and bays, an exotic plant and animal world as well as plenty of sun hours  – this would have been my associations if someone had asked me about Madagascar a year ago. Wait, there’s something else! The old popular song „Wir lagen vor Madagaskar und hatten die Pest an Bord” (“we are anchored just off Madagascar and are suffering from the plague”) which we used to sing at the campfire in camp. But what else comes to mind?

Okay, there were two more incidents concerning this island, one rather unpleasant and one educational in the context of educating younger generation. For the first one I got a big telling-off by my African partners from the Aktion Canchanabury, my former employer. I had forgotten to add Madagascar to the graphic representation of Africa on our website. Big faux-pas! That definitely isn’t a laughing matter for Africans. Really embarrassing.

The fourth largest island in the world

The second encounter also had something to do with a map. My better half had used the map of Madagascar as a template for a treasure map for our 2nd child’s birthday party treasure hunt. The island picture was called “Madagoyskar”, because we lived in the Goystrasse in Bochum at that time. Well, till now that was my level of knowledge about Madagascar! Really not a lot; - is it the same for you?

Now I will have the opportunity to get to know the fourth largest island in the world in the next two weeks. Not as a tourist, but I will have the chance to take a closer look behind the scenes. For - “Kairos-Partner” - and on behalf of the French organization, SIDI (Solidarité Internationale pour le Développement and I’Investissement), I will visit various programmes and local partners that are promoted and supported by SIDI.

Only ranked 170 out of 175

In the next two weeks using Madagascar as an example we want to find out what SIDI stands for and how SIDI actually works in the context of poverty reduction. Despite its tropical beauty and varied resources, the country is one of the 10 poorest in the world. In the last world poverty index, Madagascar ranked 170 out of 175 countries. I can’t wait to see what is out there! I have been around Africa quite a lot already. But my 59th Africa trip promises to be one of the most exciting and interesting ones, because although Madagascar belongs to Africa, it is somehow quite different. All right, let’s go!