Frasi Africa

FrasiAfrica – fair-trade commerce, cotton flakes and solidarity
A NEW INITIATIVE BORN IN ZANZIBAR – T-SHIRT DESIGN
FrasiAfrica saw the light of day in Zanzibar thanks to Francesca and Simon, a young couple who met and fell in love – also workwise, deciding to invest in an ethically-fair commercial project which immediately excited both its main actors and direct customers, generating instant approval.
The family-run company, born a little over three years ago in Michamwi, in the south-east of Zanzibar, prints exclusive designs onto a variety of clothing, products which are 90% made in Africa.
The theme of the designs is Africa itself, with its traditional popular oral culture, its legends, colours and symbols – suggestive pictures that enter the hearts and minds of those who have visited the land. A mal d'Afrique that has no cure, no remedy .... eternal!
The mother company Mantis World/Sunflag, for which FrasiAfrica has exclusive distribution rights in Tanzania, collects excellent quality cotton directly from its own plantations – much of it organically grown – and then passes this on for production work carried out solely by local manpower. The result is a qualitatively competitive product that comfortably satisfies all the requirements of the fashion textiles business.
However, there's more than this underlying the quality of a finished product with materials from fair trade, and attractive and sought-for designs. Mantis World/Sunflag has employed more than 2,000 workers in the Tanzanian Republic for over fifteen years, and has won many awards, such as the 2008 Fashion Product of the year, granted by the Ethical Fashion Forum –an award for which it was again a candidate in 2012.
The Mantis/Sunflag clothing that FrasiAfrica customises, again using only local workers, is brought to fruition by a creative awareness and care that is typical of 'Made in Italy' products, to which we add all that is beautiful that comes out of Africa.
A 100% African product, then. Born, shaped, finished and commercialised here in Africa.
Along with Mantis/Sunflag, FrasiAfrica believes that it is not enough to be satisfied with the acquisition of fair-trade raw materials, and neither to place trust only in apparent certification, but that it is also necessary to work, and to make collaborators work, in the right conditions and for fair pay. This is what makes everyone an integral part of the final product – and all of this is carried out whilst paying great attention to the cultural and environmental aspects of the workplace.
Over and above such beliefs, FrasiAfrica is well aware of the ethical message that goes hand in hand with its products, and of the concrete contribution that these may guarantee for the solidarity projects the company believes in – associations and communities working in favour of the least advantaged people on the African continent.
Holding to the idea that the smallest drops may one day become wide oceans, Francesca and Simon have decided to start up a new initiative, again promoting solidarity in favour of the realities that operate in Zanzibar, amongst which there is WHY Onlus.
In this way an exclusive, limited edition design has seen the light of day, one called 'Jambo Africa', inspired by the famous song 'Jambo, jambo, jambo .... Hakuna Matata', a song that may already be considered a second national anthem for two countries loved by Italians - Tanzania and Kenya - and one translated into English by various famous rock bands of the seventies.
FrasiAfrica will devolve part of the proceeds from the sale of each t-shirt onto WHY ZANZIBAR and other enterprises which, like our own, work in favour of the local community.
There's more than this, however. The 'Jambo Africa' t-shirt has found an exceptional celebrity backer, one who has always been involved in solidarity projects and who, since 2010, has also sustained one of our projects (the Mwendawima nursery at Jambiani) – Cesare Prandelli. Manager of the national football team, he immediately took to the idea, and has been happy to lend himself as a sponsor of the garment line, wearing the model dedicated to the Italian market (green, white and red in colour), and becoming a representative for the initiative in Zanzibar.
AT PRESENT THESE T-SHIRTS MAY ONLY BE BOUGHT FROM FRASIAFRICA IN ZANZIBAR, at selected points of sale, shops and resorts in the area.
We are convinced that the idea and spirit behind this initiative will enjoy deserved success, and that they represent an excellent starting point for other solidarity initiatives in favour of the development of this land, its culture and people.
Truly a giant leap for a small cotton flake!