Trade not aid

“We need to change our thinking. Africa is not the continent of cheap raw material. Africans need infrastucture and a real future.”
(Dr. Gerd Müller, former German minister of development)

Trade not aid

We are convinced that trade is most important for developing countries. Simple aid programs often lead to dependency and passivity. They prevent creativity and self responsibility

It is fundamental, that industrialized countries open their borders and let developing countries participate in economic growth. Africa shall not be used as simple and cheap supplier of raw materials. Only value addition and processing at the origin can ensure development. Only then qualified and better paid jobs are created.

You can find more information and answers here:

Value addition in Ethiopia

When compared to the export of green coffee, the roasting and packing of coffee adds 60% of value. This means that Ethiopians earn 60% more when exporting processed coffee like Solino.

The coffee production process requires qualified labour. On a regular basis, Solino sends coffee experts from Germany to Ethiopia. They train Ethiopian employees locally. If Ethiopia exported only roasted coffee (instead of green coffee), we estimate that 280.000 better paid jobs could be created. Here you can read about this in detail.

OurFathersKitchen

We support the Ethiopian initiative OurFathersKitchen by donating 1000 meals to disadvantaged children in Addis Ababa for each imported container of coffee.

We like this initiative, because 100% of the donated money reaches the children. All employees work voluntarely and there is no administrative cost.