Entrepreneur Nora Belola manages operations in Morocco to bottle argan oil from the native argan tree and sell in Fortnum & Mason, before the tree-climbing goats devour the fruit. Photo: Fadel Senna/AFP/GettyImages
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* Doing business as a young woman in Morocco is surprisingly easy — it has a culture that embraces start ups, according to female entrepreneur, Nora Belola. “Morocco authorities are very supportive of foreign trade and the female workforce…” *
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The Telegraph, by Anna White, (July 15, 2014) — Nora Belola has gone back to her Moroccan roots, bottling and selling oil from the native argan tree in London department store Fortnum & Mason. The former Microsoft employee is working with a co-operative of Berber women to extract the rare oil from the hanging fruit – which were traditionally eaten by tree-climbing goats – and crush it. Used for scars and dry skin, it is made from 100pc argan oil, and was being sold in the villages of southern Morocco.
Entrepreneur Nora Belola. Photo: Telegraph
“I left my job working in the Microsoft finance department a year ago to focus on the business [Zeen Forever] and within five months had a stand in Fortnum & Mason,” said Ms Belola. “Argan oil was being used by the tribeswomen on themselves or being sold domestically but, now I am buying in bulk, it helps these women earn their own money, possibly for the first time.” Sourced from the groves between Ounagha and the Atlantic coast, the cold-pressed oil is then flown to France to be packaged in the same factory that bottles Chanel to sell in the UK’s luxury market.
Doing business in North Africa has been surprisingly easy for the 34-year-old female entrepreneur, whose parents relocated to London before she was born to work in the hospitality trade. “I am running a business employing women,” she said. “I can relate to them. My Moroccan heritage helps and I speak fluent Arabic, which is a real plus.” Culturally, Morocco encourages entrepreneurship and the export of domestic products such as rugs, artisan tagines, fruit, and now argan oil, which is also being increasingly used for cooking. “Morocco authorities are very supportive of foreign trade and the female workforce, although paperwork and health and safety have been challenging, as legislation differs enormously from the EU to Morocco.”
[Continue Reading at The Telegraph…]
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