Eng. Fatuma is a petroleum and natural gas engineer and a passionate environmentalist. From the age of 9, she has been engaged in environmental conservation activities such as beach cleanups, which motivated her to pursue a career in the oil and gas industry and eventually start Sulha Afrika.
We caught up with her for an interview. Here is how it went.
What is the motivation behind Sulha Afrika?
Sulha Afrika basically means “African solutions” and is meant to promote sustainability among indigenous Africans and environmental conservation through leather products. As a woman in a male-dominated industry, it has not been an easy journey for me.
What challenge did you face when starting Sulha Afrika?
Some of the major challenges I faced when starting out were a lack of access to capital and getting people to believe in my idea and knowledge. I started Sulha Afrika immediately after university with an initial savings of just $300. Access to capital still remains a challenge to date. Despite being innovative, the business is capital intensive.
What role does the leather industry play in promoting sustainability for marginalized groups such as women and youth?
The leather industry plays a critical role by providing many employment opportunities for women and youth. Most people are involved in the business processes such as the sourcing and tanning of leather. At Sulha Afrika, we work with ethical production facilities across Kenya which enables us to spread our impact and work with the marginalized communities.
What can you say has been the biggest impact of Sulha Afrika?
Our focus on reducing waste by using livestock hides has contributed to both environmental sustainability and local economic empowerment. As mentioned earlier, the leather industry’s value chain creates a lot of job opportunities for many people.
We also take the waste- raw hides and skins from livestock and fish, do value addition and create leather products such as bags and shoes, which reduces the harmful effects of waste on our environment.
There has been a criticism that most leather products are expensive. What is your opinion on that?
Generally, when it comes to the leather industry the price is one, you just have to figure out who is paying more. This can either be the planet, the people or the customer. If you find a cheaper leather product, then most often it is either the planet or the people working on the product, that are paying heavily.
How does your business model align with the SDGs?
There is the Climate Action where we use waste to combat another waste. We do responsible consumption and reproduction by being intentional in how we provide, source and produce our products to ensure that our processes are fair and ethical.
We also promote gender equality by working across the country with other production facilities that involve both men and women. Most of these facilities are actually women-owned.
