Producing beautiful luxury products has come with successes and challenges.

“The biggest challenges I face is government greed and inefficiency. As my brand is inextricably linked to Africa and South Africa in particular I will never move my sourcing and manufacturing elsewhere,” she stated, “It would be beneficial if African countries dropped their trade barriers to create a larger local marketplace across the continent for sourcing materials and selling finished products.”

Okapi also retails online which is a practice taken up by very few African luxury brands.

“Most African luxury brands are focused on ready to wear which is still a hurdle for people to purchase online. Our success with online is that we can communicate to a very wide audience befitting for a global brand instantly. The biggest shortcoming is that prospective clients prefer to feel the product before purchasing it,” she explained.

Net-a-Porter site is one of the retail points used by Okapi to increase sales from an international market.

“This platform has brought Okapi exposure on a global scale. They have an incredibly reach because they are based online and we have managed to tap a wider customer base and our business is growing,” said Rupert.

“A luxury bag should be a timeless piece of exceptional quality which grows better with age.”

Meet Yswara, a luxury company that retails products such as tea, home accessories and artisan jewelry. The products are created using natural resources from Africa with the aim of preserving and promoting Africa’s cultural heritage. The company is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and has entered 10 African markets.

According to the Founder and CEO of the company, Swaady Martin-Leke, Yswara is focused on broad based wealth creation and providing meaningful income to the involved stakeholders who contribute to the creation of the luxury products.

“For the global luxury industry, Africa has always been a source of raw materials and inspiration for wealthy consumers globally, it is time Africa played an active role in the luxury industry,” she expounded.

Creating her company has brought joys to celebrate and mountains to climb.

“Sourcing financing for my company was tough. I managed to raise $20 000 for the start-up capital that was used to finance the basic and essential business costs,” said Martin-Leke. “As luxury is a new sector in Africa, access to capital is difficult. But this has been a positive situation for us as it has prompted us to be innovative, solutions driven and think creatively in the business.”