“At this year’s Fair Trade trade fair, one of our focuses is the partnership with Africa. We want to continue to build and expand our network with young African social entrepreneurs and connect them with German start-ups.”

African start-ups present ideas and solutions from their countries at Fair Trade, thereby enabling visitors to change their perspective. In addition to her ideas, the founder Nadia Nintunze from Impact Hub Bujumbura will also bring ecologically produced products from the Baden-Württemberg partner country Burundi with her and present them at the trade fair.

Waithera Gaitho, the managing director of Alternatives Africa from Kenya, provides information about her work in the East African country. She advises and supports Kenyan start-ups, especially young people who want to become self-employed as micro or small entrepreneurs. She will also speak about her ideas and the African - or rather, the Kenyan - start-up scene as a keynote speaker at the opening of Fair Trade on Thursday. In addition to her work for Alternatives Africa, Waithera Gaitho is an advisor to the Kenyan government on youth policy and chairwoman of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), the most important Kenyan business association.

The Fair Trade trade fair is also a place where new, innovative ways for the industry are sought. The 2019-day Social Hackathon, which took place for the first time in 3, is one such approach. “Under the motto ‘Think big, go crazy’,” says Philipp Keil, “innovative solutions to global challenges should be found.” 75 coders and others have registered for the hackathon.