[ATTACH=full]190215[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]190216[/ATTACH]
It’s okay… They can have the presidency as well… Hawa akina Gatheca and company… They are really fucking the country…
Where are the Africans in the pictures?
To be fair, most of these are innovators who have started their own little companies which they are trying to grow.
Nobody has stopped you from having an ICT start-up and looking for business…
And if its your business you could employ whomever you like!
Hapo I thought iko chida lakini nimeona CEO wa Twiga Foods. Twiga Foods are doing something great which I think can revolutionize agricultural systems in Kenya and do away with brokers. For example, my grandmother and my aunts are farmers. My grandma is old and can’t focus on labour-intensive crops like maize and beans so she settled on bananas. Anyway these guys came and bought bananas from her and said she will be paid within two weeks by MPESA. And they did, and they buy per kg, not that bunch nonsense brokers pull. Currently Twiga Foods is buying 20 per kg but sometimes goes down to 17/kg when supply is high. They started with bananas and are expanding to other crops like fruits. I saw that Twiga CEO was part of the Uhuru Kenyatta delegation when they met President Trump and I think he got a USD 5 million dollar donation/loan/grant.
Another thing I know is sio hao peke yao, so many of these social enterprises are run or co-owned by wazungu. For example, Penda Health and Jacaranda Health, Zana Africa etc. If you live along Thika Road upto Zimmerman and Kahawa West and sides za Ruiru you might have seen the Penda Health and Jacaranda.
I think it says more about us as Kenyans and less about them. Is there any reason why Kenyans can’t spot these business opportunities yet we live here and experience them every day? For example when charcoal was banned and the opportunities for making, marketing and selling enmass zile briquettes with maize cobs, coconut husks etc are being done by wazungus while sisi bado insist on cutting down trees and making charcoal.
Its not white previledge. its a reflection of what kenyan colleges are producing. Watu wa “kutarmac” wakitafuta jobs na promotions kwa wahindi. hehehe and they are usually proud of it.
Ideas we have them but without financial backing you can’t actualize them. The few successful young kenyan CEOs like my friend Bryan kariuki of cellulant come from filthy rich families…he is able to come up with ideas and actualize them…banks and foreign investors are very willing to back such people…it’s even easier if you are white or have certain backgrounds
It is very hard for a Kenyan working in Upper-hill at a bank or a financial services industry to quit and opt to launch a start-up from scratch with all the risks involved. We prefer the comfort zone, you know that loan, house and insurance cover for the family. Those guys unakuta some of them quit work at global firms such as Goldman Sachs, Google etc to follow their dreams in the “the last frontier” Africa. Before they make it to that list there are countless that have fallen and given up. I do not classify this as “White Privilege”.
Social enterprises tho are more like NGOs, all you really need is a well written proposal and connections to guys who fund such. So when it comes to social enterprise, a guy who went to school in an American university, worked somewhere where he hoob noobed with guys running such funds, he has a great headstart compared to ule jamaa alisomea UoN anafanya kazi upperhill
Sio white privilegde, its us black kenyans hatutaki kuinvest in tech. Many blacks here wakipata pesa ni kufanya land grabbing na kutengeneza gorofa. Utapata hao wazungu waki tarmack amongst themselves looking for investors wanapata easily while black millionaires wanatambua ploti maguta maguta so they can’t invest in startups that does not touch real estate.
Negro IQs are a major hinderance to innovation.
I agree. For example, Nick Pearson the head of Jacaranda Health schooled in Havard and his board has very well-known and deep-pocketed people. Jacaranda Health specializes in maternity hospitals for low-income women in places like Githurai. Zana Africa specializes in giving school girls sanitary towels and reproductive health information. The CEO is a lady named Megan White and I think she also schooled at Havard. Her parents are filthy rich and own golf courses, they are golf-buddies with President Trump and donated to his campaigns (don’t ask how I know such stuff thought most of it is sort of public knowledge). Networks and money definitely gives such people a headstart.
In my interactions with the business community and would-be entrepreneurs i have found that we lack the technical expertise to conceptualise business ideas, it is one thing to spot an opportunity but a different matter all together to show it has the potential to grow into a profitable business.
I am convinced Kenyans need re-education in matters business, no one wants to lose money in a good venture that could go down due to mismanagement.
I didn’t know Bryan comes from a rich family. However I do agree with you on networks. I used to naively think hard work is all it takes to get to the top. For some it is true, but as I grow up I have learnt to invest well in networks and connections as well as work hard.
@Markymarc njoo uone.
This is true even for white Americans. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Spiegel for example come from wealthy families. Jeff Bezos’ parents invested $250,000 in Amazon in 1995. While that has turned them into billionaires today, at the time it was a risky bet. Most of silicon Valley founders like kina Larry Page also went to elite universities like Stanford, Harvard and MIT. The mere fact that they could afford to go to these not-exactly-cheap universities means they are in a better position to achieve their dreams.
I can ascertain this, Twiga ,if it sustains, it’s going to eradicate brokers.
You can add Elon Musk to the list
Getting a startup on its feet, being black and underfunded is hell. Expenses are just too much, ukianza na licences and what have u then u find yourself in a deep deep caveat of debt
Now you know…he has a deep network of aristocrats with roots at St Andrews Turi all the way to ivy league colleges of America and South Africa…serious cash backing for any venture their hearts desire. You have to really work hard to be poor if you belong in such a group.