Omar Dabbagh reports from Ethiopia
Roots. Culture. Tyres.
This is the motto printed on the walls of every SoleRebels store, now the fastest selling shoe brand in Africa.
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu founded SoleRebels in 2005, inspired by makeshift thongs worn in her village in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The entrepreneur tells SBS News the words 'roots', 'culture' and 'tyres' not only define her company, but helped inspire her to turn her pipedream into a reality.
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu is regarded as one of the most influential businesswomen in Africa. Source: SBS News
“I started SoleRebels 14 years ago when I finished school, and I watched my father and people around me working very very hard for a little amount of money,” she says.
“I didn’t want to go or keep going the way people were living in my community, so I started this recycled tyre shoe.”
Rubber into shoes
Advertised as ‘Vegan Footwear’, SoleRebels turns scraps of rubber from old tyres and other recycled material into fashionable shoes marked with traditional Ethiopian art.
Old tyres are used to make the shoes. Source: SBS News
Starting with a staff of five, namely her brothers and neighbours, Ms Alemu now employs 300 people, and says most are paid triple Ethiopia's average wage.
“The kind of product that we’re making was challenging because everything has to be sewn by hand,” Ms Alemu says.
“All the cotton that you see is loomed by hand, spinned by hand, so all those process that we put together, it requires a huge amount of people and talent around us.
The shoes cost between $100-$140. Source: SBS News
No internet, no worries
There are two SoleRebels stores in Ethiopia, and a further ten worldwide - including in California's Silicon Valley, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and Spain.
Ms Alemu says cracking the international market is even harder in a developing country, with businesses facing barriers that are rarely dealt with in more developed nations.
“It was tough to launch. The access to internet and other infrastructures were not here, as we have it now in Addis.”
“So to be able to launch a brand internationally, to be able to sell your products online, to be a pioneer for a lot of things in Africa, I think was a challenge.”
Most staff are paid triple Ethiopia's average wage. Source: SBS News
Over the past decade, Ethiopia’s economy has become the fastest growing in Africa. But the country still heavily relies on foreign imports, and enticing Ethiopians to buy local remains a challenge for many businesses.
But Alem Getaneh, manager of the SoleRebels flagship store in Addis Ababa, says foot traffic is increasing. The customer split between tourists and locals is now 50-50.
"We have so many German customers ... Germany, England, and Australia,” she says.
“So many people come here. And so happy."
Ms Alemu is now taking her focus from shoes to coffee. Source: SoleRebels
A new venture
Named by Forbes Magazine as one of Africa's most influential women, Ms Alemu now has a new venture, a coffee store chain named Garden of Coffee.
She plans to open 100 outlets in China by 2022.
“We are changing as a country. There is a lot of hope and lots of dialogues and discussions around what’s happening in Ethiopia,” she says.
“And I hope the future is going to be bright, and it’s going to allow us to work more and harder.”
