“Africa is too often viewed as a place of low quality goods and lack of refinement”
- Swaady Martin is founder and CEO of YSWARA, a rapidly growing, trailblazing African gourmet consumer brand, and recent winner of the “ 2015 Emerging African Brand” award by Brand Africa. YSWARA creates elegant, high-end products using the continent’s natural resources, all produced by African artisans. The product range centres around exquisite teas sourced from across the Africa continent, and Swaady aims to capture a true spirit of African luxury by reviving Africa’s endangered cultural heritage and unique ancestral craftsmanship. YSWARA has a presence with 30 retailers and 10 countries globally, and has built Africa’s 1st gourmet tea blending facility. She is the recipient of multiple awards and in 2013, was named by FORBES as “The Queen of African Luxury” and on Oprah Winfrey’s “O Power List 2014”. Swaady is an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow.