Shoe Designers In Africa –...

Bethlehem Alemu from Ethiopia understands the need to produce good and quality shoes, as well as its challenges. She runs her shoe design company, Sole Rebels, considered to be Africa’s fastest growing footwear company and has managed to secure contracts not only in her home country but also in the USA, Japan and Canada. 

She started her company, Sole Rebels, in 2005, to provide for the citizens of her country who lived in abject unemployment with jobs, thereby contributing her own quota to the country’s economy. It was a means for these skilled artisans who had no jobs to showcase their skills to the world. 

She has, of course, won many awards which include 2011, Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and in 2012, she was included on forbes’ list of 100 Most Powerful and was also profiled as a woman to watch. 

Still in 2012, she was named by Business Insider as one of the top five female entrepreneurs and was chosen as NYC venture Fellow by Mayor Bloomberg.  She was also chosen by CNN as one of the “Female Entrepreneurs who Changed the Way We Do Business”. 

Her company is one that prides itself in being an eco-friendly manufacturer.

The shoe brand, Buqisi-Ruux is based in Nairobi, Kenya but has branches in South Africa as well as in Uganda. It was founded by Lynn Bugaari, Tetsi Bugaari & Nuba Elamin. These three women are cousins. Their brand’s catchy name is derived from an old Egyptian word as well as the short name of the village that the three women grew up in. 

Originally, the name Buqisi Ruux means “Queen of the Village”. Buqisi is an ancient Egyptian word that means Queen while Ruux is the shortened form of the village of these three cousins: Rukungiri in Western Uganda.  Living out her name, they produce heels made from African fabrics. They also use their brand to tell stories of African women who are making the world beautiful and shaping their nation. 

One inspiring thing about the Buqisi Ruux is that every one of their shoes is named after an African woman who has in a way, changed her world. Another thing is that they place so much emphasis on the quality and individuality of each of their products. They as well, focus on creating products that fit into modern Africa while still maintaining shoes that have high quality standards and in essence compete with the rest of the world. 

They place so much essence on their root and culture which in turn reflects in their name and their shoes. 

Frederick Mawuli Deegbe is the owner of a luxury footwear company “Heel the World” in Accra, Ghana. He left his banking job and started his company ‘Heel The World’ in his parent’s garage. His aim was to prove that quality shows can be made in his country and the shoe brand which has 13 full time employees relies so much on the media to market their products. 

Fred’s story on how he wants to “heel the world” started when he got a new pair of Pierre Cardin’s shoes and wondered why craftsmen in Ghana could not make them. In fact, one of the craftsmen told him that it was simply impossible to make such shoes. He was of course surprised by this response and felt that despite the fact that Ghanaian craftsmen were so well-known for their skills, they couldn’t make such shoes. 

After the conversation with the craftsman, he took the challenge to make the best shoes in the world from his own country, Ghana. Today, Fred is working to teach young people about entrepreneurship and leadership, thereby healing the world in his own way. 

‘Swaheelies’ created by Kenyan entrepreneur Chania Lackey are a brand of shoes which use African cloth. The African prints are sourced from countries such as Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria and Kenya. The shoes are known as “shoes with purposes”. This is because shoes made at Swaheelies goes to a Kenyan child in need.

Chania Lackey is a lawyer who despite working in the corporate world had a passion for designing shoes and putting African prints on them. She made Swaheelies for every man, woman or child, who may have travelled to Africa and didn’t know what to make of the African prints they have.

She makes her shoes with African prints and makes it possible for every man to have a piece of Africanism on them in their everyday attire. 

This footwear company is all about empowering artisans and each shoe sale creates an income for them. 

Jinae Heyns, a South African expanded into footwear design from her marketing role to create her ethical shoe brand, ‘Matsidiso’ in 2017. The packaging used for Matsidiso is all plastic-free, and all the materials and production are made in Cape Town, South Africa. Her company supports a chain of local suppliers that contribute to the economy.

To Jinae, an important element that can never be left out is attention to details and this makes her products unique. She says: “For us, we want our shoes to be statement pieces, and quality, treasured investment pieces.”

She makes shoes that reflect the vibrancy, diversity, colours and textures of South Africa. 

It is an exciting time for designers across Africa. Due to the advancement of technology, these entrepreneurs are able to market and sell their shoes across the world with ease. If you are looking to update your shoe collection, do explore what these Africa shoe designers have to offer.