ABOUT
US
Founded in 2004, Africa! Ignite is a leading rural development agency founded in KwaZulu Natal and increasingly working in other parts of South Africa and Africa. We use our extensive rural footprint to partner with communities so that they can participate fairly and equally in the economy and society and make their voices heard. Our programmes help marginalised rural communities (with a focus on women, youth and children) to earn a decent living, develop sustainable enterprises, learn usable skills, tell their stories, protect their health and environment, improve the quality of their education and ultimately improve the quality of life.
We aim to replicate the Africa!Ignite award winning and internationally recognised Sustainable Tourism Model to support better educational outcomes and opportunities to create sustainable livelihoods to 1000s of beneficiaries. Africa! Ignite vision, mission and values are set out below.
Africa!Ignite’s access to a unique footprint of 120 development nodes across KwaZulu-Natal and our team’s extensive experience of working in rural areas over 15 years have helped us to establish leadership in rural development. We work with rural tourism and craft entrepreneurs, early literacy facilitators and storytellers , local historians and tour guides, amongst others.
We also have extensive experience in communication and creative storytelling. We help communities, adults and children to tell their own stories and showcase these stories through different creative media.
Some of the development principles that underpin our work are:
We believe in genuine partnerships. We value the funding, investment and support partners who enable us to achieve our purpose, as well as our rural beneficiary partners who welcome us into their communities and who partner with us in igniting their potential. We seek to nurture all these partnerships.
We believe in the people of our continent, our country and our province. Our aim is to help them to reach their potential, so that they can ignite the continent’s energy, creativity and economic power. All our products are developed using fair trade principles.
We do not believe in handouts. We salute those agencies who help people who cannot help themselves. Our purpose, however, is to create opportunities and remove obstacles for individuals and groups in rural and marginalised areas who have the will and the drive to help themselves and their communities.
OUR VISION
Rural communities with thriving enterprises, well-educated children and confident, skilled women and youth who craft their own futures and participate equally in a democratic society.
OUR MISSION
Drawing on our proven innovative and replicable rural development frameworks, we ignite the potential of women, youth and children to enable them to become creative, literate, capable and economically active citizens.
OUR VALUES
Innovation, Education, Service to others, Partnerships, Accountability, Integrity, Respect, Sustainability, Creativity. We implement our strategy through our four key focus areas, i.e Tourism Development,Craft Development, Education, Programmes, Advisory Services
Africa!Ignite’s access to a unique footprint of 120 development nodes across KwaZulu-Natal and our team’s extensive experience of working in rural areas over 15 years have helped us to establish leadership in rural development. We work with rural tourism and craft entrepreneurs, early literacy facilitators and storytellers , local historians and tour guides, amongst others.
We also have extensive experience in communication and creative storytelling. We help communities, adults and children to tell their own stories and showcase these stories through different creative media.
Some of the development principles that underpin our work are:
We believe in genuine partnerships. We value the funding, investment and support partners who enable us to achieve our purpose, as well as our rural beneficiary partners who welcome us into their communities and who partner with us in igniting their potential. We seek to nurture all these partnerships.
We believe in the people of our continent, our country and our province. Our aim is to help them to reach their potential, so that they can ignite the continent’s energy, creativity and economic power. All our products are developed using fair trade principles.
We do not believe in handouts. We salute those agencies who help people who cannot help themselves. Our purpose, however, is to create opportunities and remove obstacles for individuals and groups in rural and marginalised areas who have the will and the drive to help themselves and their communities.