On each trip to the bustling local market, Adamma Umeofia saw a powerful opportunity: grimy market stalls sold the best local produce, but created a shopping experience that left much to be desired. With a better-designed market stall, she thought, everyone could win: shoppers would enjoy the experience, and traders would sell more of their products.
Adamma thus founded WeBuilt:Africa, an organization that sits at the intersection of her passions for Africa, design, and architecture. WeBuilt:Africa seeks to design and rebuild market stalls by recycling found building materials. The first product to hit the marketplace, the Bi-Table Unit, was created for meat vendors who require multiple clean surfaces for cutting and selling of meat. WeBuilt:Africa’s current designs include the “CarryGo” portable table, chair, and canopy, which is easily assembled by mobile vendors at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’. Ada’s designs have the potential to revolutionize the marketplace experience for sellers and buyers alike: they are easy to carry, easy to assemble, and aesthetically pleasing.
Adamma seeks to grow WeBuilt:Africa into a movement of African designers working together to transform the lives of their fellow Africans. When the marketplace has been conquered, Adamma has her eyes set on a fresh challenge: affordable housing in African communities.
In 2012, she was named a Google Youth Zeitgiest Young Mind. Her team has grown to 8 members and has expanded its product line to include purchasable furniture. One of these furnitures is the V Stall, a market stall which is safe and non-haphazard for sellers in the marketplace.
Ada’s V Stall seeks to address some of the challenges posed by the existing state of open-air markets.
