Edgar Nkunda, Chapter Two: Dreams and Visions

If you haven’t read Chapter 1, please back up and do that here: http://cheetahdevelopment.blogspot.com/2009/06/edgar-nkunda-chapter-one-lacking-bus.html)

I have received many emails asking that the next part of the story of Edgar Nkunda continue. Many are interested in hearing what are the dreams and visions of this remarkable young man.

Edgar has been put in bondage to money lenders and has little direct control of his own future. Even so, he wants to leverage the little he can control to raise the hopes of many people. His dream is to make many dreams come true. He is not very worried about making money himself.

Edgar is a man with a high-school diploma who thinks deeply and dreams big.

His plan is multi-layered and very achievable. With it, he can change the lives of hundreds and probably many thousands of families across Tanzania, to bring them a hope and a future.

First, Edgar wants to start using Tanzanian grown cotton. It is of very high quality and little of it is being used within Tanzania. In fact, having personally spoken to cotton farmers, finding a market has been difficult. By using local cotton, poor farmers can have their income raised. According to Edgar, since the local fabric industry is dominated by Indians, they are importing cotton from India and China where they have syndicate arrangements and are bypassing local suppliers. Edgar is unable to use local cotton because he is in bondage to an Indian money lender who provides the only cotton he can get.

Second, Edgar wants a bleaching machine. With this, he can take his ‘gray fabric,’ which is a natural tan color and bleach it for direct sale. The local Indian controlled fabric syndicate that bleaches Edgar’s fabric does not provide fabric to the local traditional dying shops. These shops produce gorgeous hand-made pieces of fabric that are highly valued here and in the world. They Indian syndicates don’t want the competition. Instead, they produce high-volume knock-offs. With these sales, many small businesses will be allowed to succeed across Tanzania.

Third, Edgar wants to continue to buy used fabric looms from around the world, which are available at a very low price. He wants to set up an arrangement where he would lease-to-buy four machines at a time to local entrepreneurs – within his factory, solving all kinds of infrastructure problems for them at the same time. It was his dream to have a textile factory. He has one. Now he wants others to have their dream come true to own their own business. Instead of trying to become a textile mogul (a big potato!) he wants to help lots of people succeed, creating an arrangement where joint capacity benefits many rather than a few. I think you know see why I ask people to tell me of their dreams and visions.

Edgar is a creative man, with big dreams and an even bigger heart.


Learn the lesson of Edgar. For the past several months, in both the USA and Tanzania I have found myself talking to people who feel powerless to change the world around them. No one is powerless. Learn from the man who had no bus fare and bought a factory. Learn from the man who remains in bondage to money lenders and is working to free others rather than himself. Use what you have been blessed with and do not wait. Learn from Edgar.

Edgar Nkunda, Chapter One: Lacking Bus Fare, He Bought a Factory

I was introduced today by the University of Dar es Salaam to a man with an amazing story. Actually, I think most everybody in the world has an amazing story if only you can take the time to hear it. But some stories are remarkable in unexpected ways.

Edgar Nkumbe grew up in the fabric weaving business. As a child, his father had four automatic weaving looms. Four is a good number because one person can keep four machines running by them self.

Edgar finished high school in 1992 and became a door-to-door sales person. Then in 2005, he learned of a textile factory that had failed and was selling its machines. He thought that he would go and see if he could afford two machines. After all, machines are often sold merely for scrap steel prices in Tanzania. It seems that he set his sights low. After all, he was going for only half of a full complement of four. And this was more than hopeful for he didn’t even have bus fare to get there and back.

After explaining his interest, the owner asked if the price was low enough, would he buy all sixty machines. Undaunted, Edgar said yes and after the appropriate long negotiation they agreed on a price of 16,000,000 Tanzanian shillings (tsh) or about $13,000. He also had just 16 days to raise the money or the deal was off.

He talked to his father and they decided to ask family and friends for help. After many meetings, there was a strong consensus: there was no interest and they thought he was a bit crazy.

Then Edgar learned of a government organization called SIDO (Small Industry Development Organization), kind of a Tanzanian SBA. SIDO operates industrial parks and gives small loans to businesses. They agreed to give him space in an old factory for about $100 per month and a loan for 16,000,000 tsh. Processing the loan would take some time though. With just hours to spare, he returned to the seller with a permit showing his use of the space and a copy of the loan application. He got the grace time he needed.

When the loan came through, the seller’s patience was thin. He needed to get the machines moved. They are big and heavy and require forklifts and trucks to move. The cost, 3,000,000 tsh. This time SIDO said, ‘no.’ But dad had an idea. Maybe this time family would say, ‘yes’ to a small amount. They asked the moving company if they would take a down-payment to cover fuel, and a loan on the rest. 10% down was acceptable and family decided to help. The machines were moved. This was July, 2005 and 3 months later, Edgar had repaired and powered up two machines.

I was ready to breathe a sigh of relief. –But too soon!

A machine goes through 1,000,000 tsh of yarn per month to keep it in operation. Edgar pleaded and SIDO agreed to fund just a one month supply for one machine. With this, Edgar made some sample weavings that he took to fabric companies and achieved his first order. His problem was still the same: he couldn’t afford the materials to fulfill the order. The company agreed to provide the yarn and pay him the difference when they bought the finished fabric. For three and half years, Edgar has operated in this fashion.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Success at last!

But as I dug further, I learned a disturbing truth.

The buyer has shrewdly refused to supply Edgar with enough yarn to operate all 60 machines, though Edgar has repaired them all and they are in good working condition. By doing so, Edgar’s factory never becomes profitable. Instead, the buyer supplies Edgar with enough yarn to run 24 or 25 machines for just one shift, the threshold to pay his employees and rent but never turn a profit. This is less than ¼ of his capacity. Moreover, the buyer dictates the price he will give for fabric. Worse, all of the books are kept by the buyer. Could it get worse? The buyer never pays for an order in full but instead it is the buyer who supplies the cash to make any other payments such as rent or payroll. Edgar doesn’t have a bank account and literally is at the mercy of this buyer. As long as Edgar cannot afford his own yarn, he has no options. He can’t go elsewhere because nearly all of the fabric buyers are Indian and it is alleged that they commonly practice price collusions and syndicates within Tanzanian industries. This is fully Edgar’s belief.

The problem is not just business collusion. Money lending in this way is a practice common in the third world. Through arrangements like this, informal lenders take all of the profit and allow only enough to the worker to keep them alive and serving the lender. Right now, Edgar is essentially an indentured servant with seemingly no way out. This resourceful man has been caught in a trap. He doesn’t even know what his balance with the lender/buyer is – whether he is ahead or behind. This condition has now persisted for three years.

He is so ensnared that he had difficulty imagining running his business without it.

What he needs is some basic working capital to buy an inventory of yarn. This is a low risk investment with quick returns that will change many people’s lives. And the capital will come with business guidance from Cheetah and the University of Dar to get his business in working condition.

This is the work of Cheetah.

When I parted with Edgar, he gave me one of the first two samples of fabric he had used to start his company. I felt guilty to leave with this keepsake but he insisted. I finally accepted it believing that you, dear reader, will stand with us to buy Edgar his freedom.

(Above, a picture of one of the two original samples that Edgar created to start his company. It is laying on a piece of "gray fabric".)

Next chapter: Edgar Nkumbe’s dream. You won’t want to miss it. It’s as remarkable as his story. Go here to continue:

http://cheetahdevelopment.blogspot.com/2009/06/edgar-nkunda-chapter-two-dreams-and.html