An Oliberté holiday story from Uganda…

Last week I was heading to Ethiopia to visit our team, factories and tanneries. Making a quick stop via Entebbe, Uganda, I was not expecting much of the stopover, as it was only a 5 hour stop in the middle of the night, but something a bit magical happened.

After picking up my bags, as I entered the elevator, I saw an airport worker running for the lift, so I held it for him. He made it in a huff and kindly asked me where I was going. I shared that I was going to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia via Ethiopian Airlines and he said to follow him as he works for that airline. Its 1am at this point, and with nothing to do, I follow. He was genuine and nice but as we’re walking to his office, something about his foot candy looked oddly familiar. To confirm what I already knew at this point, I said, what brand are you wearing and he says “I don’t know but it was a gift recently by the Ethiopian embassy in Uganda for our work in moving cargo for Ethiopian Airlines.”

So I ask him if I can see the inside of his shoe and he quickly looks at my shoes (I was wearing the ADIBO Black Sheep boots) and he says with humble curiosity, “you are the manufacture of these shoes!?!.” So we talk a bit and I tell him about Oliberté, our footwear and our passion to make quality footwear in Africa.

Its interesting that our shoes have become a political gift between African countries. I didn’t have that in mind when I first thought about the impact we would have in making premium boots and sneakers in Africa – but this is amazing. This is Oliberté.

Anyway, Kenneth (pictured above), says he loves the style of the Oliberté boots (though he thought they were safety boots, hence why he is wearing them at the airport) and he went on and on about how comfortable they are and how his girlfriend says they make him look cool-it’s awesome that from New York to Tokyo to Entebbe, the ADIBO chukka is a fan favourite.

Just a nice encounter I thought I’d share sitting in an airport getting ready for the holidays.

Happy Holidays.

This is Africa.
Tal @ Oliberté Footwear

keneth from ethiopian airways in adibo antique brown