Nando's leads the way in selling South African creativity across the globe

There's a lot of talk and posturing around the need to promote South African design and creativity as a means to create employment and new entrepreneurial ventures in the county, but few of the people doing the talking ever commit to putting their money where their mouths are and actually procuring products and services from local vendors.

Nando's - South Africa's favourite peri-peri chicken chain - have however quietly been filling their 1200 restaurants around the world with art and design sourced from local makers for the last 5 years; and are now the biggest exporters of South African design.

Instead of filling their restaurants with sterile, Chinese-made pieces, the Nando's brand is leveraging the opportunity to showcase the best of South Africa not just food -wise, but look-and-feel wise too.

Choosing South Africa first - a policy that perhaps a lot of other companies and government departments can adopt too when looking at solutions to increase the levels and demand for local productivity.