Cards from Africa is a part of a new generation of African businesses setting a trend in our divided world. We make high quality products, made in one of the poorest countries, available to the international market at competitive prices. In return, we offer well-paid employment to those who need it the most. Furthermore, our business model is to provide a stepping-stone for our staff to transition easily to another career or start their own business someday. We are currently developing a program to effectively teach entrepreneurial, management, and practical business skills to our staff. By unleashing creativity, teaching valuable skills, and fostering self-worth, we are confident that someday they will be able to access the international market themselves and contribute to a thriving economy and better quality of life for all Rwandans.Rwanda is known throughout the world mostly for its recent genocide and war, in which over 800,000 of Rwanda's 8,000,000 people were killed in 100 days from April to July 1994. As a result of this tragedy and the persistence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic throughout sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 8 percent of the total population in Rwanda is orphaned. Building the economy of Rwanda requires solutions that empower this aspiring yet disadvantaged group of young men and women.
We believe sustainable business is a key ingredient to lifting Rwanda, the most densely populated African nation, out of poverty. Today, over 90% of the country is dependent on subsistence farming and pressure on the land is extreme. The vast majority of the population struggles to scratch out a meager existence and is often not able to afford the education necessary to improve their situation. Rwanda's dependence on foreign aid, an amount higher than its business earnings, is equally unsustainable. A country's inability to choose its own path of development is neither dignifying nor just.
