Nomanini’s model recognises that Africa presents a worthwhile opportunity for a service provider that can facilitate widespread, low cost distribution for customers at the Base Of the Pyramid (BOP). Nomanini’s CEO, Vahid Monadjem, who hails from Swaziland, explains why he chose to pilot the Lula in partnership with taxi drivers in Soweto. “Historical lack of service provision to the masses has resulted in a largely unregulated, but essential, informal economy for the provision of …
This article compares two manual water pumps operating in the same general geographic region: the Zimbabwe Bush Pump B-Type, and the South African PlayPump ®. The Bush Pump is concentrated mainly in Zimbabwe, though the pump is also manufactured and installed in other Southern African countries. Standardised in 1987, approximately 30,000 B-types had been installed in Zimbabwe by 2010, 12,000 of them since 1998. Over the equivalent …
It does not force companies to adhere to its standard guidelines. Instead it encourages groups, business and individuals to become more socially aware, thus creating sustainability within a specific industry or industries. “We (the design industry) have never really had to adhere to a socially responsible standard. ISO 26000 looks at a bigger system. It gives you credibility in the market. If you have a client who is funding a project they should insist that you follow …
The Community Cooker is not a glamorous project – from a traditional design perspective. “The problems being addressed are not often viewed to be attractive for government as there are other competing priorities to be addressed. Notwithstanding, governments also have an ethical and moral obligation to communities,” he said. Winning the inaugural prize highlighted the role that Africa and its designers can play in the design arena “The Kenyan community feels the …
I want to look at design from an African perspective,” he says. “The problems facing people in Africa cut across state boundaries. In Nigeria for example, with a population of just over 155 million, the problems and experiences of the 105 million who live below the poverty line are not very different from those of about 10 million people (or approximately 30 per cent of the population) in Ghana, and 25 million (or 50 percent of the population) in South Africa who live in poverty. Our problems are …
The promotion of Design with Other 90% reflects a growing pre-occupation among designers with design’s capacity for solving social problems. Traditionally design served 10 % of the population; hence its hitherto elitist status. But this has changed in the 21st century in tandem with the huge leap in growth of cities around the globe – as designers increasingly submit design to the service of development and seek to work with under served communities to find …
In Sia: The Dream of the Python, director Dani Kouyaté crafts a gripping story of an emperor out of touch with his kingdom who relies on an inner circle of yes men who convince him that it is time for another sacrifice of a virgin in order to maintain his rule. A madman (Kerfa) forewarns him of his imminent demise. Rather than rely on cinematography, Kouyaté uses an exquisite wardrobe, brilliant acting and a drama like story-telling style. For Kouyaté, cinematography almost seems an afterthought. The focus is on the storytelling. He is a master ….
Relatedly, discourse on industry appears to be dated, and not cognisant of the longitudinal data that has been made available since the industrial revolution, which is starting to reveal new and positive forms of social interaction and power relationships at the factory level that may have been overlooked. However, ultimately the World Design Capital is not about designers, industry partners, the CTP or the City. It is about the design process, and identifying appropriate design methodologies that are …
As Edgar Pieterse, director of the Africa Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town reflects, the city is one which works for a “limited economic elite and tourists”. “If we accept,” he says, “that we have to stimulate the economic vibrancy of Cape Town, then there is little evidence of any innovative activity on the part of the public sector and its partners” Alluding to the development of Cape Town’s CBD, he attributes the decline in the numbers of residents – a key element in the viability of a vibrant, safe inner-city urban culture – to the …
Following a City Council decision in December to suspend the Bid Steering Committee “as its function to bid is completed” and appoint a team chaired by the Executive Mayor to “mobilise communities around World Design Capital and to look into partnerships with surrounding municipalities around World Design Capital 2014″, Mayor Patricia de Lille announced last week the formation of a multi-sectoral task team before her March signing of the licence agreement with …