In 2010, KPMG identified Fairtrade Africa and its members as partners who can benefit from the expertise of its consultants through the BRIGHT programme. BRIGHT is KPMG Europe’s first skills-based pro-bono project that supports the Millennium Development Goals. The global financial services group aims to support capacity building in the core areas of finance, risk management, operational excellence, human resources, IT and marketing.
From May till September 2011 the BRIGHT programme was rolled out across Africa. The project consisted of four specific components:
1) Financial systems for Fairtrade Africa
KPMG consultants provided strategic support to the Fairtrade Africa Secretariat in Nairobi. Fairtrade Africa has recently experienced significant growth in its staff as well as its resources, therefore a review of its current financial system was paramount.
2) Business support to Fairtrade Labelling Kenya
Following a thorough market study in Kenya, Fairtrade Africa has embarked on a mission to create a labeling and marketing platform in order to promote and grow the Fairtrade market in the country and ultimately in the region. With the help of KPMG consultants this initiative is starting to take shape on the ground. The objective will be to run an initial assessment and create a business plan accordingly.
3) Financial support to Fairtrade Labelling South Africa (FLSA)
FLSA was established in early 2009 and has since then made significant strides in opening up the market in South Africa for Fairtrade products. As FLSA continues to grow it will be crucial to ensure its financial systems are adequate to handle the entry of a large number of new products, licensees and new players in the system. In this vein, KPMG’s consultants generated an assessment of its current market as well as its potential given the highly dynamic and changing conditions in South Africa.
4) Financial training manual for Fairtrade producers
Through the development of a training manual in financial skills, Fairtrade producers will be able to obtain expert advice and guidance by KPMG consultants.
You can follow the whereabouts of the KPMG consultants in the different Fairtrade offices across Africa on the BRIGHT blog:
kpmgbright.wordpress.com/posts/