Killing two birds with a stone!

Francis Kokutse is a journalist based in Accra and writes for Associated Press (AP), University World News, as well as Science and Development.Net. He was a Staff Writer of African Concord and Africa Economic Digest in London, UK.

One of the  Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), which experts say can be contracted by walking barefoot on soil contaminated by faeces, include hookworm. There is also podoconiosis, or endemic non-filarial elephantiasis, which is caused by exposure of the bare feet to irritant alkaline clay soil.

Early symptoms of podoconiosis include a burning sensation and itching on the back of the feet. Skin thickening is accompanied by papillomatous growths around the sides of the feet and the heel. Reversible foot and lower leg oedema (swelling) become fixed and gradually progress up to the leg.

To avoid this, all you need is to keep your feet in shoes. Unfortunately, in some parts of Africa, poverty has made it impossible for some families to afford the cost of footwear for themselves and their children. It is a sad situation but true that the lack of shoes has led some people to contract diseases for which curing has become very difficult.

For this reason, any attempt to produce cheap shoes for people to wear to avoid contracting any of these NTDs must be hailed. What makes the story of World Shoes Limited, a new company that has opened a factory in Ghana, is that the owners did not just put profit as their motive, which is a rare thing. For a businessman to put social needs ahead of economic considerations in the decision to put up a factory, is something that must be hailed.

The man behind the factory, World Shoe Limited, Manny Ohonme, a businessman and philanthropist raised in Nigeria, tells it all. “As a child growing up in poverty, I experienced the power of a pair of shoes to transform lives,” he said.

Ohonme, who now serves as President of World Shoe said “shoes give us dignity and allow us to realise our full human potential. From aid to trade, our goal is to leverage exceptional product design and manufacturing to deliver lasting positive change to people everywhere.” He should know because he now has two decades of charity experience delivering nearly 10 million pairs of shoes to people in need across 109 countries.

It is important to note that it is not only in Africa that the lack of shoes has become a social problem  as World Shoe says, but an important element of its operational model, also includes plans to sell its products in North America, Europe and elsewhere at a price point that allows the organisation to scale its social enterprise and humanitarian efforts.

The siting of the factory in Ghana is important for the fact that, in addition to producing shoes to provide jobs, it is also solving a local health problem. Executives of the company say, their shoe is the first antimicrobial, eco-friendly footwear brand manufactured in Africa. Not only that, but the opening of the factory also represents a collaborative effort among public, private, and civil service sectors to provide high-quality, low-cost products for retail consumers throughout the African and international markets that prevent injury, promote hygiene, and protect against debilitating disease.

According to the executives of the factory, the design of the footwear is intended to provide comfortable, breathable support in a variety of climates and conditions. Made from durable EVA foam and infused with antimicrobial and biodegradation agents, this footwear contributes to a holistic strategy for public health while reducing waste and the environmental impact of the footwear industry. What makes the use of EVA foam exciting is the fact that its recycling process is straightforward and involves the grinding of the material into small pieces, which can then be used to make new products.

Through their social service partnerships and innovative WASH&WEAR humanitarian distribution model, World Shoe will directly support efforts by governments, charities, and health agencies to promote public hygiene and vaccine uptake, and better respond to natural disasters and other humanitarian crises.

“More than half a billion people around the world do not have reliable access to quality footwear, leaving them vulnerable to injury and diseases that perpetuate a cycle of poverty,” said Kojo Taylor, president and co-owner of World Shoe Limited in Ghana.

“We believe the new World Shoe factory will demonstrate how African innovation can propel African development and create change on a global scale. By creating a model to provide people with affordable, high-quality, eco-friendly shoes, we can support education, health and economic outcomes while protecting the environment,” added Taylor.

The factory launch supports the mandate of the president of Ghana and the commitment by the Ghanaian government to promote economic investment and fulfil its global health partnership in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Kigali Declaration of 2022.

What the Kigali Declaration is all about is to find an end to NTDs which are caused by poverty and inequality. It is hoped that by tackling NTDs, the world will be able to reduce poverty, address inequity, strengthen health systems, increase human capital, and build resilient communities, and thus create the necessary conditions to achieve universal health coverage and the SDGs. This is exactly what World Shoe is doing with the manufacture of its shoes.

Speaking at the launch of the factory, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, the Member of Parliament for Asuogyaman Constituency, at Akosombo, said “we must do everything to make this initiative succeed as it creates employment for the local community. I’m also excited that this provides a huge import substitution that will help strengthen the local economy.”

“We are creating an African brand for the world,” said Astor Chambers, vice president of marketing for World Shoe, Inc. and a veteran of Nike and Adidas. “We are fusing together a unique, sustainable product design with the ambition of a brand that stands for large scale social good. This will appeal to socially conscious consumers everywhere and has the potential to revolutionise how we achieve greater health and economic equity,” he added.

World Shoe already has orders for 1.5 million pairs of shoes, vaulting the organisation into the Top 20 social enterprises in the world. The company is a multinational social enterprise, producing innovative footwear in Africa for global retail markets and humanitarian requirements. The executives say they are dedicated to the vision that high-quality, low-cost footwear can unleash human potential, promote global health, and protect the environment.

They want to deliver millions of shoes to meet humanitarian needs in more than 100 countries, and they hope to achieve this through the use of creative designs, manufacturing, and cross-sector partnerships, to deliver market-based solutions to some of the world’s most urgent challenges. This looks viable because the NTDs that can be prevented with the use of shoes are spread across Africa and therefore the market for cheap and durable shoes is available.

At the end of the day, World Shoe will make some profit, but the fact that it has decided to consider the social needs of a people should spur others on, to provide similar services. Those who can afford it should look at the production of high nutritious foods that can help solve some of the balanced needs of many young people across the continent dying out of malnutrition.

Let us be clear, profits are important but, sometimes, simply solving social needs to make just a bit of money to keep above water, is indeed what the world’s entrepreneurs should be considering.

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