About The Shade

INTRODUCTION

Malawi is a landlocked county in the Southern part of Africa, bordered by Tanzania Zambia and Mozambique. The country has a total surface are of approximately 18000 square km of which 20% is under water. The human population is estimated at 11million with an annual population growth rate of 2.0% and 86% of the population resides in rural areas, heavily reliant on agriculture. However, agriculture can no longer generate sufficient income and employment opportunities for a population this is growing at 3.2% per annum. This is so due to a number of factors.

The SHADE is an international economic but non profit oriented development consultancy and capacity-building organisation, working principally in the fields of rural finance, micro finance, women's income generation activities, Micro and SMEs development, business linkages, development finance, governance and public sector management, cooperative and rural development, and HIV/AIDS in the economic context. All of the operational groups are based on a highly symbiotic relationship.

It is these unique interrelationships and constant sharing of knowledge and information that are critical to the success and differentiation of the SHADE in the economic development arena.

NGO "ownership"

The SHADE is a pure private NGO (see "Organisation"), registered in Malawi and member of CONGOMA - a national organisation registering officially NGOs.

With a large and permanent to the expertise of our affiliates, we have the flexibility to customise our approach and solution for each client. Our ability to support highly skilled independent resources in sub-Saharan Africa on projects from our Lilongwe hub provides us with a competitive edge in the development consulting arena. This means that our senior management can access projects in a matter of hours, and at a fraction of the cost of trying to deliver this level of service from another continent. We also have an established network of industry- and sector-specific leaders who are equally committed to the growth and development of southern and eastern Africa. Drawing on expertise from micro finance industry, government and a variety of professional disciplines, we offer a customised, focused and cost-effective approach to helping our clients meet their targets.

  1. International consultants, technical advisors, individual experts from Europe and Africa. All of them can be called upon request to participate in any consulting mission. They are individual and responsible for themselves. Some 162 experts undertake missions in all regions of the world under technical cooperation contract.
  2. "The SHADE", based in Malawi, is the permanent secretariat and focal point for the overall activities that it prepares under the leadership of Mr Ben Mtuwa, Chairman and Mr Claude Guillemain: http://www.shade-llw.org
  3. SIFRA, Networking Microfinance Facilitators, based in Brussels, is our corresponding entity in Europe. http://www.sifra.org/
  4. A network of managers in Africa.