How a Small Company Built a Global Coffee Brand
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.
“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