USAID / Guinea - Success Stories

Eleven years after business training sponsored by USAID, Madame Kanté's cloth-dying business is flourishing, and helping provide for her children's college education. According to Madame Djeinabou Kanté, the growth and continued success of "Raky Teinture," her cloth-dying business in Taouyah, Conakry, was due to the USAID-sponsored business training that she received some 11 years ago. A schoolteacher by profession, Madame Kanté had long been supplementing her teaching income to support her family by dying cloth after her classes, an art that women in her family had been doing for generations. "Still," she says, "I am a teacher by profession and I didn't know how to manage a business. I needed to learn business management to succeed."

All that changed, says Madame Kanté, after being sent on a three-week business training course at the University of Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, sponsored by USAID, where she learned a lot about money management. "Before, I simply dyed cloth and sold it. I used the money from the sales for my personal needs, to buy shoes or something for the kids, and then I didn't always have enough money to invest back into my business. I learned that I needed to separate the funds, and that even though I run the business, I myself need to have a fixed salary, and that I shouldn't use the money set aside for the business to buy a dress for myself, for example. Before I thought, 'Money is money, I'll spend it as I like,' but I learned that you can't run a business that way. I learned these basic management skills through the training."

The following year, Madame Kanté was again chosen among a group of six businesswomen to go on a USAID-sponsored training group in the U.S. As part of the training, the women visited a number of successful small businesses, many of which were run by African-American women. Through training, Madame Kanté learned about marketing, and the importance of knowing, and showing, what set her products off from others. "We've always had a high-quality product, and still do, and that's why people come here, so that's what we advertise."

Raky Teinture is now one of the best known names in Conakry for high-quality hand-dyed products. Her biggest sales come from her batik tablecloths, though she also sells ready-made clothes, travel and handbags, backpacks, placemats, sheets, and other items made with her characteristic African designs. In the 11 years since her first training course, Madame Kanté has expanded her business three-fold, selling a higher volume of products and taking on more employees to help with the ever-increasing workload.

One of the biggest advantages of running a successful business, according to Madame Kanté, has been her ability to finance her children's education. "The extra income helped me a lot, particularly with keeping my kids in school. They all did well and completed their high school degrees, which is not too bad for here in Guinea." She now has three sons in who are earning college degrees in the U.S. "They're all getting advanced degrees-it costs so much money!"

Madame Kanté used to export her wares to France, and she recently found a reliable business contact in Washington, D.C. for which she makes clothes to suit U.S. tastes. "The extra business helps me take care of my students," she says, referring to her children.

"With our work, you have to have a lot of initiative. You want to always have something new that your customers can discover when they come in. That's what sets Raky Teinture apart."

USAID/ Guinea- Success Stories