For the first time ever, 100 Orlando East households have mobilised into a self-empowered business co-operative to secure the lion's share of a local community store joint venture.
Section of Orlando East Cooperative in training with Nancy Nxumalo (centre) President Soweto Chamber of Commerce & IndustriesTheir joint venture partners include the Soweto Chamber Of Commerce, local NGO's, and the developers of Community 100 Empowered - an innovative socio-economic business and funding model.
The Community 100 Empowered model allows for up to 100% of project donor funding to find its way into the hands of intended target beneficiaries to spend on needed products and services of their choice within their own formalised economic hub.
SCCI President Nancy Nxumalo says: ‘Our Soweto Chamber of Commerce & Industries looks looks to stimulate the development of sustainable economic hubs within Soweto. This innovative community-ownership model allows Soweto householders to purchase goods that they want from their own local co-operative retail mini-stores.’
The aim of each economic hub is to directly service the organised mass-spending power of the newly empowered beneficiaries at rates better than or equal to that which they currently achieve in their local informal economy.
Adds Nancy: ‘Our aim is to encourage the collaboration of recognisable national brands to participate in developing multiple local co-operatives in Soweto, each serving and owned by as few as 100 households. We see it as a stimulant for the micro/small business sector and a recognition of the true value of the collective spending-power inherent in every household in Soweto.’
'The project offers donors and corporates a significant return on social investment (ROSI) with 100% transparency, governance and transparency by ensuring that up to 100% of funding reaches its target.’
Contact:Nancy Nxumalo - 082-922-8389 - nancynxumalo@gmail.com - President: Soweto Chamber of Commerce & Industries
Community100Empowered – 083-627-8191 - Ivan Andersen - ivan@tsf.co.za- Business Support Software Development
More members of the Orlando East Cooperative in training
2 comments:
This is a form of CO-OP development, which in itself is enabling (power of social capital & collective action). But it seems to only involve CO-OP retail; while that is presumably good (being a move into the formal economy), I don't see the need/role of DONOR activities?
Thanks John T... quite correct, we have BEGUN the process of community upliftment via the retail CO-OP process to convert the participants from informal to formal economic status.
Our view as developers of this concept is to remove the real-world side-effect of traditional well-meaning donor sponsoring of cap-in-hand learned-helplessness or reliance on donor-funding, which is almost always temporary/transient in nature.... and leaves the recipients worse-off than before when the plug is pulled.
We look to identify those DONORS who wish to stimulate and reward INITIATIVE of the 'helpless' who show their drive and enterprise to make a difference in their own lives by working together to launch their own Community 100 Empowered tuck shop enterprise.
Donor funding into a POSITIVE-attitude project with SUSTAINABLE business ideals built-in has far greater and longer-lasting community-uplifting value than just throwing it in caps held out by forlorn, helpless individuals living from hand-to-mouth.
Don't get us wrong... there is always a place for out-and-out charity donation. We are not in that space. We ourselves do not like the end-result that we see on the ground of such 'charity' processes. We are highly critical of processes where target beneficiaries hardly ever see any direct result of such funds apart from a mere pittance of a hand-out for photo-opportunities. We do not look to attract such funds.
We look to attract and apply donor funds that look to stimulate long-term sustainable initiative and innovation in previously-disadvantaged and disempowered communities.
We believe that INITIATIVE should be actively encouraged by donor funds/grants. There is a place for all processes amongst the donor community.
Post a Comment