EMERGENCY RELIEF CHARITY, ADVANCE AID, HIRES BELL POTTINGER
Advance Aid has appointed Bell Pottinger Business & Brand to help raise its profile.
Advance Aid acts an intermediary between SMEs in Africa that manufacture Non-Food Items (NFIs), and the aid agencies and UN agencies who buy these products in the wake of natural disasters or man-made emergencies, such as war.
Specifically, it is seeking to move supplies closer to known disaster zones by working with local, in-country manufacturers and then passing on the cost savings of having the goods close at hand to the relief agencies.
African SMEs are currently unable to participate in the global supply chain for NFIs. Advance Aid will act as an aggregator of their products, underwrite product quality and help with product development and innovation.
“We are delighted to be working with Bell Pottinger Business & Brand whose task will be to help explain that whilst 60% of the estimated $12bn spent annually on disaster relief is spent in Africa, less than 10% of the products supplied are made there”, says David Dickie, Director of Advance Aid.
Kevin Read, Managing Director, Bell Pottinger Business & Brand, said: “We are very pleased to be working with Advance Aid to raise the profile of their valuable work and to get the message across about how they can really make a difference to the local African economy, save emergency aid agencies money and, ultimately, save lives.”
