We chose to build our own.

After JHS, I didn’t get the chance to continue my education to SHS. My brother introduced me to shoemaking, and I took the opportunity.

During my time learning shoemaking, I noticed a dramatic shift happening in the industry. It was a shift that never made the news.

I watched many talented craftsmen lose their jobs and eventually lose interest in shoemaking altogether. Others started producing with lower-quality materials just so they could sell at lower prices. Worst of all was the influx of cheap, inferior imported footwear flooding the market from other countries.

Slowly, this changed people’s taste and demand for locally produced footwear.

And even today, nobody really talks about it.

About 9 out of 10 people you meet are wearing footwear produced overseas. An entire local industry was gradually being neglected.

These were craftsmen who were using their skills to feed their families and put their children through SHS and university. Suddenly, many of them had to find something else to do.

I witnessed a very talented craftsman go from producing some of the best shoes I had ever seen in my life to selling yoghurt on the street. I watched talented shoemakers move into galamsey. Even worse, I saw some of the younger ones eventually turn to pickpocketing.

But we decided to take a different route.

Instead of choosing the obvious options in front of us, producing cheaper and inferior footwear or quitting completely, we decided to ask ourselves a different question:

How do we make something so good that people simply cannot ignore it?

We began studying some of the most prominent footwear brands in the world. We looked at Birkenstock, Adidas, Nike, Hermès, Berluti and many others.

We studied how they approached production, their attention to detail, the quality of their products, and even how they positioned themselves in the minds of people.

That journey became the foundation for Tomus.

Tomus was born with the hope of bringing back the glory of African craftsmanship through an authentic route. Not producing counterfeits of existing brands, and not by competing to make the cheapest footwear possible, but by creating something we can proudly call our own.

But for us, bringing back African craftsmanship starts with making something you genuinely want to wear.

Footwear that looks good. Feels comfortable. Stands out. And carries a name and story you can be proud to wear anywhere in the world.

Because we don’t believe people should buy Tomus simply because it is made in Africa.

We believe it should be so good that you choose it because you love it.

And every time you choose Tomus, you become part of something bigger: proving that African craftsmanship can create products worthy of attention anywhere in the world.

Our goal is simple: to make footwear you are proud to wear, build an African brand the world cannot ignore, and create opportunities for the craftsmen behind it.

That is why Tomus exists.