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Happy Holidays!

Afrolehar Logo

“Your Bridge to
the African World”

www.afrolehar.com

O: (202) 505-2376
F: (800) 760-1895
E: info@afrolehar.com

December 16, 2014

Dear friends, clients, collaborators and partners:

Ethiopian Monk with 800 Year old Bible

On behalf of Afrolehar, we wish you a wonderful and festive holiday season, and extend our warmest greetings for the New Year.

As we promote investment and business in Africa, and provide strategies to enhance Africa's image, we hope that you will also have an opportunity to experience the Ethiopian Christmas [GENA] on January 7, 2015 [read our branding through time- we look forward to sharing with you more]. As a cross-cultural branding boutique company, we will continue to share with you, Africa's cultural diversity, traditions, and customs.

We look forward to building with you in the years to come, and we wish you a celebratory New Year.

May 2015 be a successful and prosperous year!

Happy Holidays!!

The Afrolehar Team

KnocKnockAfrica Logo

Are you a vendor looking for a place to sell your products online? Interested to directly connecting to consumers? Seeking to gain assistance in building your capacity? Visit KnocKnockAfrica (www.kkafrica.com), the platform that provides the opportunity for vendors of African products to showcase their products and for shoppers to buy African brand products directly from the shops located in Africa or the US.

Vendors can now register and create their KnockKnockAfrica Shop!
Please invite your network of vendors of African products who wish to directly deliver to American consumers, and we encourage vendors to register on KKA platform for the upcoming orientation. Please contact us at vendors@kkafrica.com.

In the mean time, Shoppers, you can visit kkAfrica and learn more about the history of textile, products and other items. Let us know what you would like to learn about and we will provide the information. Contact us at info@afrolehar.com.

Africa Attractiveness

  • Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
    Tanzania’ s administrative and business hub, Dar es Salaam, is predicted to become Africa’s fifth most populous city by 2030. According to EY’s report, the country will see the greatest expansion of middle class households with incomes between $5,000 and $20,000 per year by 2030.
  • Lagos State, Nigeria
    By 2030, Lagos city in Nigeria (in Lagos State) is predicted to have a population of more than 25m and a per capita income of $2,810.
  • Luanda, Angola
    Angola’s Luanda province holds the country’s capital city, Luanda, and a 3% share of FDI projects in Africa between 2007 and 2013.
To know more, read the Ernst & Young Report
[Interview with the co-producer Ralston Smith]
Written by Abigail Simmons and edited by Rahel Getachew
Ralston Smith

In the evening of the non indictment of Officer Wilson in Ferguson Missouri, as he was heading home, Ralston Smith (www.ralstonsmith.com) found himself in the midst of the protests that began on U street in Washington DC, where he had an opportunity to document the response of concerned citizens marching through the streets. His prompt reaction of documentation reinforces Ralston's quest to document not just the powerful moments, but also the moments that lead up to them.

As a follow up to the announcement of the Signal Strength: 1480AM documentary, I scheduled an interview with him to know more about his role in Signal Strength (http://vimeo.com/36363870), the journey of 4 men, led by a black activist Kymone Freeman, who sought to create a progressive radio station in SouthEast Washington DC. Kymone's energy, as expressed by Ralston, has been contagious.

Kymone himself, the more outspoken character in this project, often says that people's "isms"-Racism, Sexism, Fanaticism, Patriotism- the suffix of ‘ism’ are strong obstacles that he has been tackling as a father and community activist.

Ralston met Kymone during an event hosted by Kymone, which focused on Radio and the Black community, and as Ralston overheard Kymone talk about his endeavor to create a different radio experience for the black community in DC; Ralston proposed to document it, and Kymone accepted. At that time, he was also meeting with Rahel Getachew to view the film of Charles Burnett who was screening Killer of Sheep in Washington DC, and given Rahel’s production background, they attended the screening and meet & greet program. During the meet and greet, Ralston shared his upcoming project with Rahel, and she accepted to join him on the documentary not knowing that the story was spearheaded by Kymone Freeman, whom she knew from her previous production and branding work. Click here to read the full interview.

Technology in Africa is important for US-Africa relations as it facilitates linkages, collaborations and knowledge exchange. This last year has been booming with creative and innovative companies and products from the continent. Here is a short list of some that really impressed us:

Cardio Pad The Cardiopad from Cameroon

Created by Arthur Zang, this medical tablet allows those living in non-connected areas to perform heart examinations, like the Electrocardiogram (ECG). This is an important examination, which many living in remote areas would not have the time to go to the city to perform for regular checkups or in the case of emergencies.
The BRCK from Kenya

We’ve known about them since they were a prototype, and this last year they have been connecting Africa, one BRCK at a time! They say that it took 784 cups of coffee and Kenyan chai to bring their product to life! Someone send them more coffee! We are excited about where they will go!
The BRCK
FoufouMix Foufoumix from Togo

Created by Logou Minsob This is a device designed to replace the mortar and pestles used in preparing the popular West African dish, foufou. The “FOUFOUMIX " is a small electrical food processor that allows generates discreet, quick and hygienic foufou in 8 minutes, substantially reducing the amount of time needed to prepare the dish, while also enhancing the hygienic conditions during production.
Aybar BBM from Ethiopia

Created by Melesse Temesgen, the Aybar BBM is a low-cost farming device that can be used by farmers to plough fields that are usually waterlogged and helps them easily drain the water. This turns soils or fields that were otherwise unavailable for farming into high yielding fields.
Aybar BBM

There are many more! Check out these lists here! http://innovationprizeforafrica.org/2014finalist

  1. Africa’s Top Four Technology Trends For 2014- Report http://bit.ly/1G0dHTv
  2. Growth trends: Six booming industries in sub-Saharan Africa http://t.co/vAXxEZSnKj
  3. 14 Tech Trends To Be Thankful For In 2014 http://t.co/2VEwjINZIn
  4. Top 25 viral Tumblr blogs of 2014 http://on.mash.to/1BlBBJv
  5. 15 video marketing trends for 2015 http://t.co/DCocOwLGok
  6. 7 social media resolutions for 2015 http://on.mash.to/1G0cNGF
  7. Six Marketing Trends for 2015 http://linkd.in/1v1G4Mk

Have we missed any? Tell us what your favorites are by tweeting @afrolehar or emailing us to abigail@afrolehar.com!

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