An agricultural scientist from Mali returns to her homeland and sets up her own company. It preserves fruit that would otherwise rot – and provides the solution to a major problem.
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Jonathan Fischer, Bamako
On the outskirts of Mali’s capital, Bamako, there is a two-story box surrounded by fields and fallow land. Right next door, small boats unload their cargo on the banks of the Niger. Only a holey slope leads here. The walls are stained with red dust. Colorful juice bottles shine on a billboard at the entrance. “Zabbaan – la secret de ma journée” is written on it, “Zabbaan – the secret of my day”. A couple of three-wheel trucks are parked next to it – the infrastructure to deliver juices to supermarkets, hotels and restaurants in Bamako. Company founder Assiata Diakite hoped that the Zabbaan brand would one day prevail over the sugar-coated, artificially flavored products of the competition. But what motivated you to leave a well-paid job in Europe to invest in one of the poorest countries in the world?