‘With OVO, you make the difference’, an interview with Mr Van Tilborg, CEO of the Miko Group, on the partnership with OVO.
interview and article by Marc Van de Velde
Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs (OVO) is an organization with an particularly positive goal: to help African entrepreneurs in the development of sustainable entrepreneurship in their countries. Many Belgian companies support OVO and thereby contribute to the growth of the African economy.
Miko Koffie is one of them. Dozens of sponsors, business angels, companies and professional federations donate resources so that with OVO we can accompany and help finance promising projects in Africa.
They do this in various ways: from structural sponsorship over annual gifts to loans for African companies. At the same time, Belgian entrepreneurs also act as coaches or experts to increase the chances of success of African enterprises. Miko Koffie has been a financial and logistics partner of OVO.
Frans Van Tilborg, CEO of Miko Group explains why.
OVO is very transparent
“We have indeed been working with OVO for a long time and we are very happy with that. The organization is very transparent to us. And we can choose specific projects, so we know where our money is going. For example, we support a project of the NGO Congodorpen ( i.e. a partner of OVO) in the DR Congo. We pay the small coffee farmers there a price higher than the market price so that they can survive, and we also guarantee the purchase of their coffee.
The collaboration with OVO is part of a broader commitment.
By selling our Puro Fairtrade coffee, we also want to contribute to the protection of the planet. With the proceeds through an English organization, we have already purchased 750,000,000 m2 of rainforest. In addition to many plants, sometimes unknown animal species are discovered there. One of these is a frog that Pristimantis Puruscafeum was named, a reference to our Puro coffee.”
Supporting can be done in many ways
It is important to note that companies can also support NGOs through OVO, as the example of Miko coffee proves. After all, OVO does not want to limited to its own projects but considers as its mission all projects that strengthen the ecosystem on which entrepreneurship can develop. Contributing to the objectives of OVO can be done in many ways: by becoming a core member, by making a donation, by supporting a specific project and also by becoming a volunteer for the organization.
Would you also like to be part of the extensive network of companies that support OVO and make a real difference that way? Would you like to know what the work of OVO can mean? Then don't hesitate to contact Karen Peersman, karen@ovo.be.