Africa works!
Last week I bought something strange: my first ever Benetton clothing, and the first yellow clothing during the last 10 years or so. I just couldn't resist the T-shirts for the global communication campaign of Benetton for this year: Africa Works. Funnily enough, the first place where I read about it was Iltalehti, the second best-selling tabloid newspaper in Finland! It stated briefly that the campaign is hosted by Youssou N'Dour and that Benetton supports a micro-credit project called Birima in Senegal. My Benetton T-shirt cost 17 euros, which is not much for Benetton clothes in general, but a lot for a T-shirt. The money goes probably to the huge advertising budget...
Still, I have to say that I quite like the Benetton campaign - as always, they are skillful at advertising and gaining attention from people. The photos for Africa Works are supposed to present Senegalese workers from various fields who have used micro loans, offered by the NGO Birima, to start small, productive businesses. When I look at the people in the photos, they seem to me both joyous and dignified at the same time: they are proud of what they do, but they don't take themselves too seriously.
Basically the idea of Africa works is "to promote the new face of Africa" (Alessandro Benetton in the press kit for Africa Works, in the photo on the left) and to show that "Africa doesn't want charity, it wants repayable subsidised loans" (Youssou N'Dour in the same press kit, on the right in photo, wearing 'my' T-shirt). 'Birima' represents now three different things: besides being the name of the project, it is also one of Youssou N'Dours hit songs (videoMicro-credits are not certainly a brand new idea in development work, but one of the most growing branches during last few years, at least. Since I'm not an expert on that area (yet :)), I can't really tell what the actual results of micro-loan projects are. But they seem like a plausible plan: most often the biggest obstacle for ordinary people is the lack of money. You can't really start investing into anything before saving some money, which means that you are trapped. No money, no business - no business, no money. But a loan, instead of just giving money straight away, means that you actually have to work to pay it back eventually. I have been hearing too many times stories about the passivating effects of development aid: why repair a bicycle if you can get a new one anyway from some other organization or government for free?
So, these projects seem to benefit the ordinary, little people. However, as long as the larger economic and political structures stay the same, micro-credits are not going to make Africa work as a whole. Starting a small enterprise does not bring in any money if no-one can afford your products or services. It was already painstakingly notable during my visits in Africa: everybody wants to sell something, nobody wants to buy it. Not even "for a very special price for you, my friend"! For a growing economy you need indigenous middle-class or a very profitable export industry - most African countries have neither.
Nevertheless, Benetton vows to believe in Africa. It is actually amazing how far-reaching this acting as a 'responsible company' is. Ten years ago hardly anyone would have guessed that even the largest multi-national companies are talking about social responsibilities, greenhouse effect and nature protection. The altermondialist pressure groups have succeeded in their efforts, raising consciousness at least. Now what? We just need action, to make the world work as it should. (Come on, join my optimist enthusiasm!)
Photos: © Benetton Group, James Mollison
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