Khwela Factory Pty Ltd

On 18 November 2018, courtesy of the Kenyan Tourism Board, we went on a Safari Tour where we explored the treasures of Kenya including the Elephant Sanctuary, the Giraffe sanctuary then the human part of the Safari, Kazuri Factory.

Kazuri manufactures ceramic beads, plates, cups and souvenirs using clay from Mount Kenya. The Factory employs over 300 women, many of whom did not go to school. Currently, there are over 300 women on the waiting list. Those that get to be employed are provided with medical aid and a salary. They each make between 700 and 1000 beads per day depending on the shape of each bead and the intricate detail painted on each hand made product.

These products are exported all over the world.

Once the clay is collected from Mount Kenya, it is placed in a machine with water that refines the clay till it is ready for molding. Their molding tools help to create consistency in the bead types. They have water tanks that collect rain water so that saves costs.

A kiln is used to dry the clay before it is decorated with acrylic paint imported from South Africa. Once they are decorated, they are heated again. The kilns and machinery used to prepare the clay is imported from the United Kingdom. The products are heated over night because during the day, it is too hot.

There are different designs created and tested in the market then most of the production is based on orders.

This establishment was initially supported by private British funding and is today, a very attractive tourist destination for Kenya. 75 years later, this is a gem that is a good example of what development is possible in Africa through craft.

Property Rights Alliance & Free Market Foundation

INVITE you to the global launch of the

International Property Rights Index 2018*

Date:     8 August 2018

Place:    Holiday Inn Johannesburg-Rosebank | The Zone | 187 Oxford Road | Rosebank

Time:    0730-1400 including lunch [media and speakers 1400-1500]

Fee:       None

RSVP:    Seating limited to 50 – please RSVP here

Programme

07:30 – 08:30     Registration | Arrival tea and coffee with light breakfast snacks

08:30 – 08:40     Opening Remarks by MC Temba Nolutshungu (Director | FMF)

08:40 – 09:10     Keynote Address: Mmboneni Muofhe (DDG | Science and Technology)
Intellectual Property as a tool for development

09:10 – 09:20     Presentation: Lorenzo Montanari (Executive Director | Property Rights Alliance)

An overview of the IPRI Index: Historical context and present application

09:20 – 09:45     Presentation: Prof Sary Levy-Carciente (Economist from Venezuela & Hernando de Soto Fellow)
International Property Rights Index 2018: its relevance, how it is built, this year’s results, its relationship with development and 21st century society

09:45 – 10:15     Questions & Answers

10:15 – 10:45     Mid-morning tea and coffee

10:45 – 11:00     Presentation: Leon Louw (Executive Director | Free Market Foundation)

Smoke and mirrors: Attack on the Rule of Law

11:00 – 11:15     Presentation: Prof Kelly Chibale (Founder & Director | H3D; MRC/UCT
Drug Discovery & Development Research Unit | UCT)
Intellectual property in innovative pharmaceuticals: From right to responsibility and economic impact

11:15 – 11:30     Presentation: Jasson Urbach (Director | Free Market Foundation)

Case study: How the FMF’s Khaya Lam Land Reform Project is restoring property rights and securing a brighter future

11:30 – 12:00     Questions & Answers

12:30 – 14:00     Lunch & Networking

14:00 – 15:00     Media engagement with speakers

*The International Property Rights Index (IPRI) is the flagship publication of Property Rights Alliance. The IPRI scores the underlying institutions of a strong property rights regime: the legal and political environment, physical property rights, and intellectual property rights. It is the world’s only index entirely dedicated to the measurement of intellectual and physical property rights.

Speakers

Temba A Nolutshungu is a Director of the Free Market Foundation. As one of the pioneers of the black consciousness movement his inevitable collision with the apartheid state saw him traverse the ideological spectrum from an inveterate communist to an advocate of classical liberalism. Temba ascribes this metamorphosis to the fact that the apartheid state was omnipotent, dictating the lives of blacks from cradle to grave. Having been detained twice under the Terrorism Act, his resolve to be instrumental in limiting the power of government was strengthened by his immersion in the writings of Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell.

Mmboneni Muofhe is the Deputy Director-General (DDG) for Technology Innovation at the Department of Science and Technology. He was a UNESCO Biotechnology Fellow at the Agricultural Research Council in 1997 before joining the Foundation for Research Development (now National Research Foundation) as Coordinator and then Manager for Technology and Human Resource for Industry Programme (THRIP). Mr Muofhe’s current responsibilities include the implementation of South Africa’s Bioeconomy Strategy which aims to utilise South Africa’s rich biodiversity, specialised skills base and global partnerships to address health, agriculture and industrial and environmental challenges thereby improving the livelihood of citizens and stimulating economic growth. He is also a non-Executive Director of Biovac (a partly state-owned vaccine manufacturing company) and The Innovation Hub (the first Science and Technology Park in Africa to be accredited by the International Association of Science Parks).

Lorenzo Montanari is Executive Director of the Property Rights Alliance (PRA), an advocacy group affiliated with ATR for the protection of physical and intellectual property rights, both domestically and internationally. In his capacity at Property Rights Alliance, he is in charge of publishing the International Property Rights Index, an international comparative study focused on intellectual and physical property rights. Previously, he worked for a public affairs firm in Washington, DC and at the international department of the GSPM/George Washington University. He also worked as a political analyst and electoral observer in Latin America. Lorenzo holds a BA/MA in Political Science and in International Relations from the University of Bologna and a MA in Political Management from the George Washington University. He collaborates with Forbes, The Daily Caller, The Urban Folks (Japan), Formiche and Atlantico.

Sary Levy-Carciente is a Venezuelan economist with expertise in the field of financial macroeconomics. She holds a Doctorate in Development Studies, a Master in International Economics and a Specialization in Administrative Sciences. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Academy of Economic Sciences in Venezuela, is a full professor at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) and coordinates the Public Expenditure Observatory of the Center for the Dissemination of Economic Knowledge CEDICE, Venezuela. In her academic career, she has been: Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences; Coordinator of Research of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences and Director of the Institute of Economic and Social Research at UCV. Her doctoral thesis focused on financial instability, and nowadays she is coordinating a research programme on network theory measuring systemic risk in the financial sector. She also works as business and financial consultant, has several publications and has been a speaker at academic and professional meetings. Since 2015, Dr Levy-Carciente is responsible for the calculation and analysis of the International Property Rights Index, developed by the Property Rights Alliance (Washington, DC).

Leon Louw is a well known South African personality who, for over a generation, has been active in diverse aspects of public life. He is credited with having had a significant impact on the course of events in South Africa, especially regarding the extensive economic reforms that took place during the last two decades of apartheid, and the inclusion of the property rights clause in the constitution. With his wife, Frances Kendall, he was nominated thrice for the Nobel Peace Prize for proposals made in their book South Africa: The Solution. Leon is the Executive Director of the Free Market Foundation.

Kelly Chibale studied for his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Zambia and his PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, UK.  This was followed by postdoctoral stints at the University of Liverpool, UK and at the Scripps Research Institute, USA. He was a Sandler Sabbatical Fellow at the University of California San Francisco, a US Fulbright Senior Research Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a Visiting Professor at Pfizer in the UK.  He is a full Professor of Organic Chemistry at UCT, a Tier 1 South Africa Research Chair in Drug Discovery, founding Director of the extramural South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Drug Discovery and Development Research Unit at UCT and the Founder and Director of the UCT Drug Discovery and Development Centre H3D, Africa’s first integrated drug discovery centre. Kelly was recently appointed by the Minister of Health to serve on the newly established SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) board.  He previously served as member of the Medicines for Malaria Venture Expert Scientific Advisory Committee and the Expert Advisory Board of the UK government’s Department of Health Global Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund. He was recently named as one of Fortune Magazine’s 50 World’s Greatest Leaders for 2018.

Jasson Urbach is an economist and a director at the Free Market Foundation, where he also heads the Health Policy Unit. Jasson has published academic papers and several monographs. He has also had a number of opinion pieces published in the popular media both locally and internationally.

 

Khwela Factory would like to thank the University of Johannesburg for inviting us to perform at this beautiful event and for their brilliant minds. Feel free to view the video here:

 

 

Happy news:

On 9 May, the Joy of Jazz Music Festival announced that Tlale Makhene’s performance will feature Kgomotso le Roux on voice and mbira. It is with great appreciation that Khwela Factory will manufacture both their outfits for this production.

Sad news:

May is a difficult month because of the passing of Kgomotso le Roux’s mentor, Rosy Morero Bulane Sabe AKA Neno. Khwela Factory sends its sincere condolences to the Bulane and Hopa family. Here’s a tribute to Neno:

 

May the spirit of love comfort those who are experiencing difficulty or pain this moment. May the spirit of all that is good heal you in every way.