Golden Era Africa

Golden Era Africa, a startup company that mainly deals in production and supply of sanitation products such as liquid soap, disinfectants, hand wash, and toilet cleaners aiming to prevent the spread of communicable diseases in various communities in South Sudan. Key beneficiaries of this initiative include non-governmental organisations, government offices, hospitals, schools, hotels, clubs, cleaning companies and residential households.

We use different approaches to reach the targeted customers including informing people about the availability of the products and the benefits of using high quality sanitation products.

We cut costs by completing some of the production processes locally. Employing locals also helps in costs reduction and better penetration of the markets. With your funding, we can increase production to benefit from economies of scale either thus saving customers more  by offering better prices or improving the quality of life for people involved in the supply chain by leaving better margins.

 

Firstly, South Sudan as a nation has been in crisis for about 20 years plus and also affected with flood-heavy rains hence this had affected many communities and the country greatly on basic health living.

The Major challenge/problem witnessed in many communities or South Sudan at large is poor sanitation and unhealthy environment among communities which resulted into rapid spread of communicable diseases for example Cholera, Small pox, Chicken pox, Trachoma, Hepatitis B and Ebola of which the Ministry of Health and World Health organization and other agencies are responding to the rapid preparedness mechanism. Worst of all, the COVID19 pandemic which has his the world aggressively and vigorous while has fast spread rate if the preventive measures like hand wash with soap are not put in place, this can lead to death.

My solution to the above problem statement is the production and supply of sanitation products such as liquid soap, disinfectants, hand wash, Jik, Bar soap, powder and toilet cleaners aiming to prevent the spread of communicable diseases in various communities in South Sudan. Key beneficiaries of this initiative include non-governmental organisations, government offices, hospitals, schools, hotels, clubs, cleaning companies and residential households.

We cut costs by completing the production processes locally. Employing locals also helps in costs reduction and better penetration of the markets. 

Well, the targeted beneficiaries includes; Key beneficiaries of this initiative include non-governmental organisations, government offices, hospitals, schools, hotels, clubs, cleaning companies and residential households. The populations holds both in the rural and urban centers. More we were also able to the Protection of Civilian Sites (POCs) where the refugees are based and there is really unhealthy and poor sanitation at most because overcrowding spreads up the spread of both water and airborne diseases.
We had a survey or assessment to find out whether the solution can work and found it wright and had to tell me for examples;

 I encouraged community awareness about the preventive measures. For example holding meetings with the community members on controls measures like Hand washing with soap and water is the simplest and most effective way to prevent transmission of communicable diseases.

When to wash hands with soap and clean water?
• After using the toilet
• After handling animals or animal waste
• After changing a diaper (nappy) or cleaning a child’s bottom
• Before and after preparing food
• Before eating
• After blowing the nose, coughing, or sneezing
• Before and after caring for a sick person
• After handling waste material.

Firstly, natural disasters like floods due to heavy rains and the man made crisis leads to destruction of health units and services in the country and  also displacement of the people in the country. The government can not with stand enough to provide basic health services. The disasters destroys the surface creating unhealthy environment and poor sanitation hence the spread communicable diseases. Am optimistic of my solution of production and supply of detergents and soap at a relative price for communities to affordable and be able to change and save their lives. I will want a population of 372,410people.      

Golden Era Africa uses different approaches to reach the targeted customers including informing people about the availability of the products and the benefits of using high quality sanitation products. My background working with the media helps by creating better channels for advertising. Kenyan, Ugandan and Dubai companies supply most of the products available in the market. Therefore, as a local company, the idea is to plan the home advantage to capture more customers.

Besides, I sent two senior staff for extensive training that later came back home with the knowledge and transferred the skills and knowledge to other. This brought new innovative ideas and methods in our production though manually but we able to produce high quality and satisfying detergents and captured people's attention to by besides as young as we are they were excited of our ideas though lack of capital for expansion.

Firstly, as a start up company, we did not start with sophisticated machinery or technology. We came up with the idea, tested it and found it is working then had a training in Nairobi Kenya in one of centers/Hubs to gain more advance skills and knowledge on the existing technology on the production of detergents especially on the addition, measurement, thickness and scent. This because some of the detergents in Kenya erode the skin after use some we had to be careful in production putting more efforts to avoid such and hence this has created differentiation with other similar products and compared to ours.This has created high value and quality of the products.

On the business model, we hire cars for bulky deliveries to the  companies, schools, NGOs, hospitals etc. However, other customer have mercy on us if we are fixed and they come and pick from our office. Most households and individual buy and pick from home. 

We frequently use social media-Facebook for marketing our products.       

Well, as I mention before the products of the initiative are used in

non-governmental organisations, government offices, hospitals, schools, hotels, clubs, cleaning companies and residential households.

These products are used for Washing and cleaning majorly, aiming to prevent the spread of communicable diseases in various communities in South Sudan.
For examples, when to wash hands with soap and clean water?

• After using the toilet
• After handling animals or animal waste
• After changing a diaper (nappy) or cleaning a child’s bottom
• Before and after preparing food
• Before eating
• After blowing the nose, coughing, or sneezing
• Before and after caring for a sick person
• After handling waste material.

Firstly, this initiative of production and supply of sanitation products such as liquid soap, disinfectants, hand wash, and toilet cleaners aiming to prevent the spread of communicable diseases in various communities in South Sudan. It will have a greater impact if people wash and keep clean environment, the rate of spread of the communicated will reduce or totally be prevented. Now the target population is the capital city of South Sudan-Juba with a population of about approximately 372,410 people. 

In the longer run if we get capital and this project expands, it will employ more people to the eradicate poverty while promoting decent work and economic growth.

I am passion driven to address the challenges posed by an unhealthy environment, poverty, unemployment and  Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructurein South Sudan in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) No. 1, 3,6 8 and 9. 

This year in January, I was selected for business training Young African Leadership Regional Center East Africa to represent South Sudan on this project.

 https://www.facebook.com/yalieastafrica/ Meet #Cohort36 Akuja Eresto Taban from South Sudan. 

 https://www.facebook.com/goldeneraafrica 

My solution is current solving 20000 people because we small in operation but when it expands next year hopefully we will serve 372,410 people.

Five years from now, I want to have explored and developed skills in Business management, gained experience in leading innovative projects and expand my responsibilities within this role to work towards my goal. I’ll be a role model to many young startups and will inspire many to be better than me.

I hope the Program will help me network, collaborate, build partnerships, learn and share knowledge with the various resourceful people from the region and beyond and then transfer this knowledge back home to help more vulnerable people in South Sudan.

I want to be one successful business men in South Sudan and Golden Era Africa would expanded to all regions of South Sudan and East Africa.

1-Poor infrastructure in other regions of the country.

2-Cultural clashes in in other regions of the country.

3-Inflation.

4-Lack of capital.

In order over come these barrier, I will do the following;

On poor infrastructure in the other region, I currently operate within the city because of the seasonal bad roads.

On the cultural clashes, I also limit my operations to the safe regions where there are no such conflicts.

On the inflation, I make sure I adjust the market prices relatively.

On the capital, your help is highly welcomed for the expansion. 

10 Full time staff

Firstly, our team has high and good education qualification I currently perusing MBA-Supply chain and Operations Management, two of the directors have completed BBA and then rest have diploma and certificate qualification. My previously experience with UN in coordination, planning, organizing, preparing, monitoring, supervision and meeting donors helps me a lot to think out the box and its uniqueness and quality. 

 IRC- we supply them with detergents.

UNDP-We have partnered in Face Mask Production Initiative as part Corporate Social Responsibility in Rumbek, South Sudan.

Well, my key beneficiaries of this initiative include non-governmental organisations, government offices, hospitals, schools, hotels, clubs, cleaning companies and residential households. There are mostly consuming the liquid soap, hand wash, Jik, and Toilet cleaner. To the NGOs and local community we also provide training to interested competent willing local to get skills in order to get work within and in other related places of work. These products are displayed at our shop and at the office for the customers to see and buy. They even testify that our products are okay though still on manual production due the its uniqueness and quality that we attained.  

I will have to use the following approaches;

1-Family and Friends.

2-Competitions, summits and partnering with NGOs on developmental entrepreneurial activities in the communities.

3-May be loan when the business stabilizes that the banks and other micro finance will trust.

I am applying for funds because of the Unhealthy and poor sanitation problems that leads to spread of communicable disease in my communities in South Sudan for to produce the detergents and soap to reduce or prevent their spread. The funds will be used for production and expansion.

 

May partnership goal is to 

1-Get more skills and knowledge on developing good business models.

2-To get more customer through strategic methods of marketing.

3-Get capital for the expansion of the business.

MIT faculty or initiatives

The funding Golden Era Africa is seeking will help build up the small successes that we have already achieved especially machinery and more innovations.  Support their camps by teaching them self sustaining skills and providing Hand wash water points. 

The funding Golden Era Africa is seeking will help build up the small successes that we have already achieved especially machinery and more innovations.