Hoping clothing success will help Africa’s poor

Sep 8 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

A BUSINESSMAN who has launched a clothing company on Tyneside is aiming use profits from the business to educate children in his native Africa.

Will N’Kombo, who is originally from The Congo and studied in Germany, quit his day job at IBM in Longbenton to concentrate full time on his sportswear brand Calool.

“It means ‘big powerful cat’ in my African language, which is close to one of the South African local dialects that Nelson Mandela speaks,” he said.

The business graduate, who also has an MBA from Sunderland University, is targeting children, teenagers and adults with his clothing.

Currently running Calool from Gateshead as a one-man band, Mr N’Kombo left his job in July to concentrate on his fledgling business which he spent two years researching.

“I went to China, and went to different countries to find out where I could get the sportswear manufactured,” he said.

“Now I want to give it a try and live my dream. My plan is to create three jobs this year.”

The range is made in China, Turkey and Morocco, although he says he is keen to find a UK manufacturer.

Mr N’Kombo is looking to set up a charitable trust, run separately by people outside the business, to donate 50p from every item sold to educate children in Africa.

“I had the opportunity to go to school. Education was no problem for me because my parents could afford it,” he said.

“But young people are on the street in Africa. It’s really, really hard for those kids, they are the future . The governments in Africa, they don’t care about them. I could make a contribution there.”

He also plans to promote the Calool name by sponsoring children’s sports teams and events.

“Once the brand is established in the region and in the country, we will go global in order to discover other market niches such as continental Europe, US, Canadian and African markets. In the meantime, our aim will be to create jobs in the region,” Mr N’Kombo said.

Having been settled in the North East for eight years, he is keen to remain here. “I love the city. I feel at home here,” he added.