Programmes

programmes

WOWZULU/WOWAFRICA

Since 2010, Africa!Ignite and its partners have established vibrant WOWZULU Marketplaces in recognized tourist destinations across KwaZulu-Natal, as an additional strategy to alleviate poverty and ignite rural enterprises. The contemporary, colourful WOWZULU Marketplaces combine craft sales with authentic cultural experiences and attractions such as coffee shops, story-telling, rural home stays and opportunities to learn craft techniques. Expansion of the Model is currently underway in Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Kenya under the WOWAFRICA brand.

Our current WOWZULU Marketplaces are gateways into sustainable community based tourism experiences in five destinations across the province:

Khula Village outside St Lucia
Inanda outside Durban
KwaNzimakwe and Nyandezulu on the South Coast
Ballito on the North Coast
Emazizini in the Northern Drakensberg

Each WOWZULU/WOWAFRICA Marketplace is operated by local entrepreneurs as a for-profit business. Africa!Ignite and partners provide and equip the structure and supply branding, signage, marketing materials and point-of-sale stands. We also provide training, assist with product development, and financial management, help create tourist experiences and provide mentoring and support. Our most critical function is to provide market access, and as such, we have established partnerships with large tour operators such as TUI Travel, who regularly include our tours in package tours. We have also been a beneficiary of the TUI Care Foundation programmes. We currently have a partnership with Airbnb Africa Academy and Tourism KwaZulu Natal (TKZN) through which we are helping to train, develop and mentor homestays and experiences. Expansion of our marketplaces is planned for Soweto, Addo, the Wild Coast and Masai Mara (Kenua)

programmes

WOWBIZ

WOW!BIZ is an SMME support initiative that provides community-based businesses with essential services that they would not normally have access to.

Want to open your own WOW!BIZ?

The Africa!Ignite Sustainable Tourism Model is further complemented by Africa!Ignite’s WOWBIZ model, which we launched in early 2019. WOWBIZ centres are operated by entrepreneurs who have had their own businesses for sometime. We offer critical support for emerging businesses through services such as business registrations, compliance and planning, printing, marketing, branding, social media and mentorship. Each WOWBIZ centre has an internet café where local businesses can gain access to business opportunities, apply for tenders and so on.

The WOWBIZ centres workhand-in-hand with the WOWZULU/WOWAFRICA marketplaces to ensure that entrepreneurs within the tourism value chain and other surrounding businesses have access to vital services that will help them grow.

We are currently expanding this model into Addo and Soweto and are in the process of establishing two new mini-WOWBIZ Centres in and around Durban.

VIEW OUR BRANCHES

programmes

WOWCRAFT

Since 2009, Africa!Ignite has been running a profitable craft production unit and have provided regular income for more than 1,000 crafters across KwaZulu-Natal and more recently in Eastern Cape and Gauteng.

View our catalogue.

We work with a variety of designers who support us with new contemporary design, crafter development and crafter training. One of our main functions is to manage craft logistic: to purchase materials in bulk and send it to the homes of our producers, who mostly live in rural or peri-urban settings. Once production is complete, we do quality assurance and order fulfilment. Clients often require bespoke ranges, and we work e.g. with large corporate producers to embellish and enhance their products with hand-made elements. Our client base includes major international retailers in Europe, the United States, Britain and Australia as well as local B2B and B2C clients. Our craft team regularly participates trade shows such as Next, SARCDA, Ambiente, and Decorex. With our WOWBIZ and WOWAFRICA expansions into the Eastern Cape and Soweto, we are currently planning to create satellite WOWCRAFT Hubs, which will be operated by local entrepreneurs. These WOWCRAFT Hubs will facilitate craft logistics closer to the point of production, therefore reducing costs.

We are currently producing craft under the brandIGNITE DESIGN