Savanna Metro AS
Savanna Metro AS is a Norwegian company founded in 2015 by Torbjørn and Birgitte Henriksen. Savanna Metro AS is working with Ethiopian entrepreneurs on design and production of quality products from leather and textile, initially targeting Norwegian consumers.
How it all started
Torbjørn grew up in Ethiopia during the 1970s and -80’s, and ever since he moved back to Norway, he kind of felt obligated to tell his surroundings that there is more to Ethiopia than what the news tells you. Together he and his wife found out that they wanted to start something to spark peoples own curiosity by introducing a different perspective. With Torbjørns background from Ethiopia and Birgitte’s design education, they had the idea of working with Ethiopian designers and manufacturers and introduce high quality, desirable Ethiopian products for Norwegian consumers.
Initially, they spent quite a lot of time doing research form Norway, both on potential business partners in Ethiopia, and other Norwegian and international companies, already doing business there. They soon found out that the leather and textile industry was a good place to start. “During the first trip we made to Ethiopia in 2016, we met with several potential manufacturers and designers as well as organizations and individuals that were willing to share their experience. The Norwegian embassy in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian investment commission both played an important role in guiding us in the right directions.”
After their first trip, they decided to start small and continue their research and learning as it went along. “We started designing and manufacturing leather products in collaboration with a few small companies in Ethiopia. At the same time, we opened our own webshop in Norway, Indezi.no”.
CoFounder and Owner of Savanna Metro AS, Birgitte Henriksen
Challenges and advice
Starting a new company has its fair share of challenges, however, for Torbjørn and Birgitte most of the challenges are connected to starting and running a company in general, not necessarily connected to doing business in Ethiopia. “Based on the knowledge we had from our research and Torbjørns background, I guess we were prepared for many of the differences between doing business in Ethiopia and Norway”.
“Some of the challenges we have faced in Ethiopia is that a lot of the materials we need to manufacture our products are not available locally. Zippers and other hard wear have been ordered to our specifications and shipped to our manufacturers. Obviously adding to the cost”.
Their best advice for other companies is “to start with something on a scale that you can handle, and not wait until everything has fallen into place. Just learn from the experience and mistakes as you develop and expand your business. We have never been afraid to ask for advice from anyone willing to share, and our experience is that there are a lot of individuals, businesses and organizations that are eager to share valuable information”.
Limited travels
The pandemic has affected Savanna Metro and their projects quite a lot. “We haven’t been able to travel to Ethiopia for the last year. Some of the last projects we have been working on were therefore put on hold. And the market for travel accessories hasn’t been all that good since March last year. However, during the past year, we have been able to run our webshop here in Norway more or less unaffected”.
Learn more about Savanna Metro here
