About the book

Published: 15 January 2014
ISBN: 9780099571926
Imprint: Vintage
Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
RRP: $24.99

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A Good African Story

How a Small Company Built a Global Coffee Brand

Andrew Rugasira

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The inspirational story of how an African-owned coffee company became a global brand.

Since it was founded in 2003, Good African Coffee has helped thousands of farmers earn a decent living, send their children to school and escape a spiral of debt and dependence. Africa has received over $1 trillion in aid over the last fifty years and yet despite these huge inflows, the continent remains mired in poverty, disease and systemic corruption.

In A Good African Story, as Andrew Rugasira recounts the very personal story of his company and the challenges that he has faced – and overcome – as an African entrepreneur, he provides a tantalising glimpse of what Africa could be, and argues that trade has achieved what years of aid have failed to deliver.

This is a book about Africa taking its destiny in its own hands, and dictating the terms of its future.

Pub date: 15 January 2014
ISBN: 9780099571926
Imprint: Vintage
Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
RRP: $24.99

Categories:

Share…

About the Author

Andrew Rugasira

ANDREW RUGASIRA grew up in Uganda and went to the University of London for his undergraduate degree in Law and Economics. He later completed a masters degree in African Studies at the University of Oxford. In 2003, he founded Good African Coffee, the first African-owned coffee brand to be stocked in UK supermarkets and US retailers. He regularly speaks at leadership and business conferences, and is passionate about initiatives that lead to community transformation. In 2007, he was nominated as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He has won several awards, including the Legatum Pioneers of Prosperity award, and in 2010 was nominated for a Financial Times/ArcelorMittal Boldness in Business award. Andrew lives in Kampala with his wife Jacqueline and their children.

Praise for A Good African Story

“Andrew Rugasira is a break-through African. His story of how he gathered the coffee beans of small growers in western Uganda and turned them into a major brand, sold in supermarkets across the world, is utterly inspiring”

Jon Snow

“Sharp, concise and incisive”

Antonio Senior, Times

“The book is full of Rugasira’s vivid character, scholarly, argumentative and big-hearted”

Observer

“This has been a remarkable few months for books about the coffee trade – and the latest is one of the most revealing and the most unusual ... A fascinating exposition of African history, sociology and business”

Broughton's Coffee House

“With sharp analysis and hard facts, he outlines the structural imbalances surrounding trade from Africa ... This book about good coffee is a good read”

Harriet Lamb, Fairtrade International CEO, Management Today

“The book is full of Rugasira’s vivid character, argumentative and big-hearted, dismantling the agendas of NGOs, dwelling on the historical context of poor government and corruption, detailing the ways in which real change in Africa is still an ambition rather than a reality”

Tim Adams, Guardian

“Here are useful lessons for any young African businessperson”

Africa Report