All the Talk about Traders Walk

Located at on the grounds of the Arusha Coffee Lodge, Traders Walk is a unique African experience center where visitors can browse African art and artifacts sample typical local cuisine and sip wondrous Tanzanian coffee.

Among the cluster of retail and food outlets are the Kahawa coffee shop with its shady terrace, freshly baked pastries and home-grown java; Soko Gift Shop for locally made keepsakes; The Tanzanite Experience for gemstones and jewerly; and Jiko ni restaurant for traditional African cuisine made with locally grown produce, herbs and spices.

Traders Walk is also home to the nonprofit Shanga project, which gives disabled residents of northern Tanzania an opportunity to utilize their traditional skills to create beautiful works of art.

Shanga (which means “bead” in Swahili) is a successful socially conscious for-profit enterprise which employs people with disabilities to create unique, high quality, handmade jewelry, glassware and homeware using recycled materials. These products are sold in Tanzania and all over the world, with profits reinvested back into development of new products and further employment of disabled people.

The organization is also dedicated to nurturing and advocating environmentally sustainable business practices.