By Ginaba Lino
An entrepreneur and the co-founder of Maridi Organic Company has urged the people of South Sudan to make use of and promote the products made in South Sudan.
In a telephone interview with Catholic Radio Network on Monday 11 March 2024, the co-founder of Maridi Organic Company; Suzy Salwa says many South Sudanese have the misconception that the products made in South Sudan are not of good quality.
The entrepreneur who deals with raw materials that are used to manufacture skin and hair products adds that some products coming from neighboring countries have harmful chemicals.
“We have a lot of products in the market that come from different countries, and all of
the times we do not know what is in those products, and we get to use them, but there are impacts later, the result on our skins shows whether
because the world we live in today, a lot of industries depend on artificial chemicals or harmful chemicals that are not good for our skin or health in general.”
Salwa adds that there are a lot of resources in South Sudan that people should associate with, and use to be able to show to the world.
She explains that the country has a lot that people to create things that are quality for South Sudanese and also supply other countries as well.
The co-founder of Maridi Company states that her company deals in 5 major raw materials which include organic honey, wild coffee, hibiscus, tamarind, and rice.
“Our country has a lot that we can use to create things that are for us, and other people as well, and that is what let me start producing these products. So meanly we deal with five major raw materials, and that is organic honey which comes from Maridi, wild coffee which also is grown in Maridi, hibiscus grown in Maridi, then we have tamarind and rice.”
The five raw materials are used to produce quality products skincare, haircare, wellness products, and candles.
Suzy narrates that her products have yielded a positive impact on people because her products are 90% organic she does not use any chemicals in the products except some preservatives which are needed to have quality products that can work effectively.
“Now the impact this has added on people always is the fact that I have been able to produce quality products which are 90% percent organic, we do not use any chemical in our products, we only rely on mild preservatives, which of course we require because, at the end of the day, we need to make sure that when I give you a product, it can last for 6 months to a year.”
Suzy adds that she has started supplying some people from neighboring countries like Uganda and Kenya as well, hoping to supply the whole of Africa’s continent.
She says the only challenge is the beginning of the project was the perception of people towards homegrown products which is changing slowly.
She appeals to the people of South Sudan to learn how to support homegrown products and learn to embrace their environment because that is the only way they can know the beauty of the country.