HUSTLE MAG E.A MAY 2019 by Hustle E.A

HUSTLE ISSUE 003

VOLUME 018

MAy 2019

EAST AFRICA

Africa's business magazine for the entrepreneur

INSIDE Raw ambition and sheer hard work does it for former tout

A Complementary Way of Doing Business

The trailblazing story of Jumia, Africa’s first unicorn

KASHA LAUNCHES AN E-COMMERCE PLATFORM FOR WOMEN

The Fintech Visionary

SCAN ME

PHILIP NYAMWAYA

KSH 350

USH 12750

TSH

7850

RF 3030

builds iPay into one of Africa’s most innovative payment companies HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

CONTENTS 30

WELCOME..............................................................................7

QUOTES.................................................................................8 BRIEFS •Equity Group bounces back to organic growth with 13% increase in Loan Book.............................................................9 • Coca-Cola appoints new general manager, East & Central Africa Franchise.....................................................................10 • Kenya Airways resumes Malindi operations......................10 • Africa Blue Economy Forum (ABEF) 2019 urges African businesses to dive in to the Blue Economy..........................11 • Kasha launches an E-Commerce platform for women......12

• Century Microfinance Bank receives $1m boost from Micro Enterprise Support Program Trust......................................13 HUSTLE WATCH • Turning garbage into treasure..........................................14 OPINION • Hire people with skills, not many degrees.......................16 • Africa’s unbanked population could be one of the biggest opportunities in fintech history.........................................18 FINTECH • Fintech in Kenya boosts East Africa’s economy: ICAEW....21 MAIN STORY •The fintech visionary..........................................................22 •“Entrepreneurs have to work three times harder than

everyone else,”-Philip Nyamwaya, co-founder, iPay..............25 MAIN FEATURE • A Complementary Way of Doing Business.........................26 FEATURE •Rising Unicorn..................................................................30 •Fitness lecturer dives into gymnasium business and scoops success..............................................................................32 FARMING •Tapping money from milk ATMs.........................................34 •Online marketplace gives farmers a lifeline......................36

WELCOME MANAGING EDITOR: Amos Wachira

“Fortune favors the bold,” -Latin proverb

WRITER: Jeff Korir Supram Goswani CONTRIBUTORS: Prof Bitange Ndemo Martin Koinange Vincent Muasya Maria Dima MARKETING MANAGER: Wangare Riba BUSINESS EXECUTIVE: Steve Angwenyi SUBSCRIPTION & CIRCULATION: Bill Karani DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Mark Gikonyo ILLUSTRATIONS: Stanislaus Olonde PUBLISHED BY:

Devan Plaza - 6th Floor Crossway, Westlands P.O BOX 12542-00400 NAIROBI CELL: +254 720 806488 EMAIL: info@hustlemag.co.ke

HUSTLE E.A IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY. Views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the publisher. ©2019 Elite Craft Ltd. All rights reserved. Material may be reproduced only by prior arrangement and with due acknowledgement to HUSTLE EAST AFRICA MAGAZINE.

Editor’s note Dear Reader,

or this issue we discuss the evolving fintech landscape, What’s fintech’s impact on the traditional financial sector? What are the gains made so far, as far as financial technology goes? What kind of challenges do fintech startups face locally? -are some of the big questions posited in our stories, with a deserving case study, and commentary from experts on the matter.

On this note, the cover celebrates one of our local fintech heroes. He has painstakingly built an innovative payments firm that is now rolling its services across borders. Philip Nyamwaya has gone through painful lessons in entrepreneurship to be where he is today. He doles out entrepreneurship advice with the aim of inspiring a whole generation of aspiring entrepreneurs. Why not drink from his rich cup of wisdom drawn from his firsthand experience in the corporate world? In this issue, we also feature a number of entrepreneurs who have fought great odds to triumph. From a tout, ambitious man turns the tide to built a thriving garbage collection enterprise. Two other equally inspiring entreprenuers are battling middlemen in the agriculture sector. While one is supplying milk ATMs to enable farmers make more money from dairy farming, the other is creating a mobile application to bridge the gap between farmers and buyers. Most of these entreprenuership stories read like the perfect rags to riches tales,only that they are not. Far from it. These are resilient businessmen and women who have chosen the road less traveled. Hustle East Africa magazine celebrates each of these brave souls, and shares their story to inspire the next generation of entreprenuers. We believe there are lessons that can be learnt from their stories. We also featured a blockchain ebtreprenuer who is making headlines for all the right reasons. Blockchain is known to be a decentralized, autonous, immutable and tamper proof piece of technology that can redefine many sectors of our economy. Will Ruddick is an African blockchain pioneer. Besides, he’s the man behind community currencies in most of Kenya’s slums. Read on to understand his latest offering. That’s not all. To give an edge to our readers, we have dedicated a whole segment to agribusiness, with interviews and ideas that can change perceptions. All in all, this issue is filled with intuitive and telling ideas-enough for you to explore the progressive interaction between technology, economy and business beyond the playbook.

editor@hustlemag.co.ke FB: hustle magazine Twitter: @hustlemag1 www.hustlemag.co.ke

THOUGHT LEADERS

“I am thrilled to have been appointed as the first female General Manager for the East & Central Africa Franchise. The Franchise has been growing steadily over the last few years, supported by the region’s rapid urbanisation and expanding population. These trends also form the backdrop for our drive towards innovation and creating consumer-centric brands, which I’m very excited to lead.”

“Today we celebrate the 400,000 girls who gained new STEM skills through the Girls4Tech program and learned that a future in technology can and should include them.”

- Phillipine Mtikitiki, GM, Cocacola East and Central Africa

- Susan Warner, senior vice president of Global Volunteerism at Mastercard.

This partnership will go a long way in helping us unlock the vast potential that lies in the businesses and farmers within the agricultural sector using the value chain financing approach. Through our program, Century Microfinance is giving farmers grow their businesses, get better prices for their produces and get rid of brokers who have been exploiting the farmer. Ultimately we will see the lives and livelihood of the farmers improving.”

“Technology has transformed the face of business not just in Kenya, but across Africa. This has been made possible by exceptional people. Andela is at the forefront of enabling such exceptional people – software engineers – to work with global teams building software products that impact businesses and consumers. I look forward to leading the Kenyan business through its next phase.”

- Century Microfinance Bank CEO Reuben Kimani.

7 8

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- Janet Maingi, newly appointed Country Director for Andela, Kenya.

hustle briefs Equity Group Bounces Back To Organic Growth With 13% Increase In Loan Book

fter two years of depressed growth in traditional banking business, Equity Group has bounced back to organic growth registering a year on year 13% growth in loan book. “We have learned to operate with interest capping as a new norm despite the associated challenge of risk pricing”, said Dr. James Mwangi, Managing Director and CEO, Equity Group Holdings Plc while releasing the 1st quarter results. The Group registered a 15% growth in total assets to reach Kshs.605.7 billion driven by growth of 12% on customer deposits. “Intermediation engine has bounced back with growth in deposits intermediated to loans,” said Dr. Mwangi. Interest income grew by 7% while non funded income registered a 7% growth rate. Profit before tax grew by 6% to Kshs.8.8 billion up from Kshs.8.3 billion the previous year. The 7% growth on interest income was on the strength of 13% growth in the loan book, overcompensating the reduction in lending rate from 14% to 13%. Non-funded income contribution to total income bounced back to 41% up from 38% recorded the previous year. Non-funded income growth reflected increased transactional activities and uptake of various fees and commission services, including merchant banking commission which grew by 15% driven by increased market share to 42% of visa acquiring business up from 38%. Forex trading income grew by 22% supported by increased dollar flow from Diaspora remittances that grew by 27% to reach Kshs.30.9 billion Bond trading income grew by 92% to Kshs.450 million while unrealized capital gains on mark to market on government securities grew by 110% to Kshs.1.42 billion up from Kshs. 680 million due to declining yields. Mobile banking income grew by 15% to Kshs.282 million reflecting the growth in digital business. The Kenya banking subsidiary bounced back pushing regional subsidiaries contribution to the Group profits to 18% down from 20% contribution the previous year despite the regional subsidiaries increasing their total Group asset contribution

Dr. James Mwangi, Managing Director and CEO, Equity Group Holdings PLC addresses guests during the investors briefing this morning. to 26% up from 25% and increasing their total Group deposits and loan contribution to 25% up from 24%. The improvement in profit contribution by the Kenya subsidiary was driven by improved cost income ratio that declined from 42.5% to 41.8% despite the reduction of lending rates from 14% to 13%. Digitization has seen 93% of loans disbursed being accessed through the mobile channel while 97% of all cashbased transactions happened outside the branch with mobile and agency channels taking the lion share. Digitization supported reduction of staff costs in the Kenya subsidiary for the 1st quarter from Kshs.1.7 billion to Kshs.1.6 billion. While holding the group staff costs at Kshs.2.6 billion. Digitization of customer journey has eased customer experience leading to growth of digital payment transactions by 94% and supporting growth of customers to 13.6 million and customer deposit growth of 12% to Kshs.428.5 billion up from Kshs.382.4 billion, driving the group balance sheet up by 15% to Kshs.605.7 billion. The Group recorded an NPL ratio of 9% against Kenya banking sector NPLs ratio of 13% with a Group NPL coverage of 78.7%. During the quarter under review the Group asset quality deteriorated marginally from 7.6% to 9% driven primarily by Tanzania subsidiary that experienced shock. The Group management has announced a strategic partnership and collaboration with Safaricom to catalyze participation of Kenyans in integration of the corporate economy and the informal economy particularly in the government led initiative of stimulating the real economy by prioritizing and massively investing in low cost housing, manufacturing, food security, agro-processing and health. The collaboration will see the two strong

brands collaborate in using their eco-systems and value chain and networks to converge finance and technology through business and enterprises. The Group has also announced plans to acquire four subsidiaries of the London listed Atlas Mara in Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. The transaction once it is closed would allow the Group to double the size of its operations in Rwanda and Tanzania while entering and establishing presence in the Southern Africa (SADC) region. The Group would have presence and footprint in the Eastern, Southern and Central Africa regions covering the trade routes of Beira-Lusaka-Lubumbashi route, Dares salaam-Dodoma Mwanza-Kigali route, Mombasa-Nairobi-Kampala-Kigali and Juba route, and the Mombasa-Moyale-Addis Ababa-Juba trade routes a strategy that aligns with the African continental free trade area initiative. The market has positively responded to the strategy with Equity Group holdings registering a market capitalization of Kshs.157 billion as at 31st March, Kshs.22 billion higher than the next largest bank in market capitalization in the Nairobi Stock Exchange. In pursuit of its ambition of shared prosperity, social and impact investments, the Group’s spend through its corporate foundation has topped to Kshs.35 billion with 87% of the funding being on the popular and highly impactful Wings to Fly program and Equity Leadership Program, which have seen 16,168 needy kids access free secondary education of whom 12,256 scholars have transitioned to university education with 496 students attending leading global institutions. As well, 1,739,478 young people or 20% of Kenyan youth and women have also benefitted from free 13 weeks’ financial education, FIKA-Financial Education for Africa. HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

Hustle briefs

PROMOTION

Kenya airways resumes malindi operations

COCA-COLA APPOINTS NEW GENERAL MANAGER, EAST & CENTRAL AFRICA FRANCHISE

oca-Cola Central, East & West Africa Ltd has appointed Phillipine Mtikitiki as General Manager, East & Central Africa Franchise effective 1st June 2019, based in Nairobi, Kenya. In her new role, Phillipine will be responsible for developing and managing the business strategy across East & Central Africa. Phillipine is a Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) professional with a wealth of experience in Operations, Marketing, Planning and Commercial Strategy. Remarking on her appointment, Bruno Pietracci, President of Coca-Cola’s Southern & East Africa Business Unit (SEABU) said, “I am very pleased to announce Phillipine’s new role. With Phillipine’s expertise and track record, I am confident that her leadership will take the business to new heights in this region, which is full of opportunity and growth”. Phillipine Mtikitiki commented: “I am thrilled to have been appointed as the first female General Manager for the East & Central Africa Franchise. The Franchise has been growing steadily over the last few years, supported by the region’s rapid urbanisation and expanding population. These trends also form the backdrop for our drive towards innovation and creating consumer-centric brands, which I’m very excited to lead.” Prior to her appointment, Phillipine was a Region Franchise Manager for Southern & East Africa Business Unit (SEABU), leading and executing the business strategy across Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia. Having been in this role since 2017, she has a deep appreciation of the dynamics and opportunities this region holds. She joined The Coca-Cola Company in 1998 as a graduate associate. Over 13 years, she worked across the

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Phillipine Mtikitiki, General Manager, Coca-Cola East & Central Africa Franchise. business unit and it’s bottling entities in South Africa in various functions and roles of increasing responsibility. Phillipine celebrated her 20th anniversary with the company in January 2018. Phillipine holds a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Henley Business School, a bachelor’s degree in business administration and Honours in Economics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Phillipine takes over from Ahmed Rady who has been appointed as General Manager, Egypt, effective 1st June 2019. He will be based in Cairo, Egypt.

ravelers to Malindi have a reason to smile after National carrier Kenya Airways announced the resumption of flights to the idyllic Coastal town with four weekly flights starting 10th June 2019. The flight, to be operated by Jambojet using a Bombardier Q400 will increase the frequency of flights by four, in addition to the nine weekly flights to this destination. The airline’s re-entry to this route is a great boost to the town, well-known for its strong Italian connections when the airline launches the Rome-Geneva flights on 12th June 2019. This is expected to create seamless connections and boost between Italy and Malindi, two areas that already share historic economic and social ties and will provide greater connectivity to other destinations within the KQ network. Through the codeshare partnership with Alitalia, passengers from all over Italy will also be able to access the beautiful Kenya coastal town of Malindi through a one-stop service via Nairobi. Kenya Airways Chief Commercial Officer Ms. Ursula Silling said, “As part of our growth strategy, we seek to link key markets within the KQ network to allow passengers seamless connectivity from all points.” Ms. Silling said the strengthening of the Kenya Airways network continues to be a key focal point for Kenya Airways and by resuming the Malindi route, the airline will be supporting the tourism industry at the Kenyan coast that has seen a resurgence in the recent days. The Bombardier Q400 is designed to accommodate 78 passengers. The aircraft also seats two pilots and two flight attendants.

BLUE ECONOMY

Africa Blue Economy Forum (ABEF) 2019 urges African businesses to dive in to the Blue Economy African businesses are being challenged to wake up to the economic, social and environmental power of the Blue Economy

frica Blue Economy Forum (ABEF) (www.ABEF2019.com) comes to Tunis on June 25-26; Confirmed speakers include Government ministers and officials from Gabon, Ghana, Morocco, Somaliland, Tunisia and Seychelles; Aims to raise awareness of the economic, social and environmental benefits of the Blue Economy. African businesses are being challenged to wake up to the economic, social and environmental power of the Blue Economy. Momentum is gathering for companies based in Africa’s coastal nations to fully recognise and understand the benefits of backing a Blue Economy, which covers a wide range of productive sectors that are crucial for the continent’s sustainable development, including fisheries, aquaculture, transport, energy, trade and tourism as well as extractive industries. Research indicates that the Blue Economy has the potential to be a major source of wealth and prosperity for the continent and help advance the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Businesses interested in learning how they can be part of the rising tide involved in the Blue Economy are invited to attend the second Africa Blue Economy Forum (ABEF), which is being held in Tunisia on 25-26 June. This year’s ABEF2019 builds on the

inaugural event in London last year which explored what the Blue Economy was. This year’s forum aims to take it a stage further and explore how business and government can implement actions that will proactively boost the economic, social and environmental welfare of the continent. The importance of a cohesive strategy that will protect and utilise Africa’s coastal waters cannot be overstated: 70 per cent of Africa’s nations are coastal 90 per cent of the continent’s imports and exports are done via sea transportation Africa’s maritime industry is estimated to be worth US$1 trillion per year The asset value of ocean economy eco-systems is valued at US$24 trillion Plastic pollution costs $13 billion per year due to damage caused to marine ecosystems ABEF2019 will deliver a strong focus on business and government collaboration, highlight investment opportunities and reveal environmental and social impact. Discussions will explore the opportunities and innovations in emerging and frontier sectors of the blue economy and how they can help accelerate Africa’s transformation, create jobs, sustain livelihoods and communities and offer low cost but impactful climate change measures. Government ministers and officials

from Gabon, Ghana, Morocco, Somaliland, Tunisia and Seychelles already confirmed speakers whilst more official delegations from other African countries are also expected to be present. They will be joined on the platform by business leaders, international investors, ocean innovators and environmental organisations from across the globe, who will share the importance of the Blue Economy in advancing Africa’s development agenda. Leila Ben Hassen, organiser and founder of ABEF2019, said: “There needs to be more awareness of the Blue Economy and a realisation of how important it is to the future of Africa. Governments are beginning to understand this and beginning to implement policies but it still needs the private sector to grasp this and to look at how they can work in partnership with governments and other organisations to make this succeed. Collaboration is necessary to make this work and deliver huge benefits for the continent enabling it meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. ABEF2019 will begin to lay the foundations for this collaboration process.” Business leaders interested in attending this year’s event can register now through the following link: www.ABEF2019.com Follow the conversation on social media, by using the hashtag #ABEF2019

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Hustle briefs

E-COMMERCE

Juliana Kituma(right)Unilever Ecommerce lead, Malyse Uwase (center) Head of Health and Impact, KASHA and Joanna Bichsel CEO and Co-founder, KASHA address member of media at Nyama Mama.

KASHA LAUNCHES AN E-COMMERCE PLATFORM FOR WOMEN

asha, an East African E-commerce platform for women by women has officially launched today in Nairobi. The online health and personal care products company first launched three years ago in Rwanda with the ambition to give women access to the products that they need in a confidential, convenient and affordable way. Today, the ambition has expanded to Kenya. “E-commerce is thriving in East Africa, with over 21 million people accessing mobile financial services hence making it easier for consumers to shop online. However, women, who directly make or influence 80% of consumer purchases remain highly underserved in their access to high quality and genuine products’ said Joanna Bichsel, Co-founder and CEO of Kasha. According to a report by McKinsey, Africa’s pharmaceutical market is estimated to hit USD65billion by 2020, with the beauty and personal care market growing at a compound rate of 8.24% between 2014-2019, driven by the rapidly expanding middle class.

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Kasha is tapping into this vast opportunity with its diverse product portfolio that include; menstrual care products, bath and body, sexual health contraceptives & HIV self-tests, beauty products and baby products. Due to the nature of their customers’ needs, the online company will be working to deliver purchased items to customer’s destinations within an hour. “Women are driving the world’s economy. Kasha is a technological solution by women that prides itself in providing the products and resources that women need throughout the phases of their lives. More so we also empower women enterprises. Currently, our category partners who create these unique skin and beauty products are women,” added Ms. Bischel, Kasha CEO and former engineer and Business leader at Microsoft. Some of the local category partners available at the platform include; Marini Naturals, Zerufi Organics, and Mosara. The firm has also partnered with global brands such as Unilever, Johnson & Johnson and Kim-Fay. Kasha will accept payments through mobile money, cash payment on delivery

or bank card/credit card. Deliveries to customers will be done via motorbikes to ensure convenient and secure deliveries and will partner with delivery agencies to enable them deliver orders to customers across the country. Kenya’s E-commerce is now estimated at 6 percent of all purchases made in 2017. With about 300 million smartphones, E-commerce has the potential to grow economies and also market local productions. According to a report by Citibank, Kenya’s E-commerce market could be worth more than Sh400 billion in the long term, and between Sh70 billion and Sh120 billion in the short to medium term, presenting a lucrative revenue opportunity for Fintech’s. Additionally, a report by Harvard Business report indicates that women control about USD20 trillion in annual consumer spending globally. Their total yearly earnings could reach USD18 trillion in the next five years. In aggregate, women represent a growth double the size of China and India combined, creating a large growth market for the online platform.

LENDING

Century Microfinance Bank receives $1m boost from Micro Enterprise Support Program Trust

entury Microfinance Bank received $1 million loan from Micro Enterprise Support Program Trust (MESPT) to increase its capital base as it continues to support farmers through lending and boost micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. The funding is a big boost to Century Microfinance Bank as it seeks to enhance productivity for farmers and build capacity for MSMEs. “This partnership will go a long way in helping us unlock the vast potential that lies in the businesses and farmers within the agricultural sector using the value chain financing approach. Through our program, Century Microfinance is giving

farmers grow their businesses, get better prices for their produces and get rid of brokers who have been exploiting the farmer. Ultimately we will see the lives and livelihood of the farmers improving,” said Century Microfinance Bank CEO Reuben Kimani. Century Microfinance Bank Limited (“Century”) is a Microfinance institution which has been in operations for the last 7 years and specializes in providing financial services to Micro, Small and Medium Businesses at large. Century Microfinance Bank works with farmers across various sectors, dairy and livestock, horticulture and aquaculture. The bank supports them to develop value chains by collaborating with farm input suppliers, service providers i.e. vets and agronomist

and bring on-board off takers like Tuskys supermarket who offer competitive prices. The company has funded around 14800 farmer since inception. Century Microfinance Bank recently signed an MOU with Tuskys supermarket to fund farmers who supply fresh produce to the retailer. This program rides on technology and enables farmers who supply to Tuskys to get loans from Century Microfinance bank and also process their payments through the institution. Century Microfinance Bank Limited was licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya as a deposit taking microfinance institution in 2012 to provide the full range of financial services such as savings accounts and credit. HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

HUSTLE WATCH

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Turning garbage into treasure Raw ambition and sheer hard work does it for former tout By Hustle Correspondent

ohanna Kariuki’s entrepreneurship journey reads like a perfect rags to riches classic. He has beaten insurmountable odds to rise to the crest of business. As a young man, he left his Ol Kalou home for Matunda, a market in Western Kenya to look for a better life. Here, he worked as a dish washer for a hotel. Unfortunately, before he could settle down, he lost his job. Determined to make it in life, he chose not to move back to his impoverished village. He opted to work as a street porter at the junction area of Eldoret where he earned a meagre Kes50. From there, Kariuki evolved into a turn boy, Matatu tout, before earning his place as a Matatu driver, plying the Eldoret-Kitale route.

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As fate would have it, tragedy struck. “I was involved in an accident and lost my job. I relocated to west Pokot where I worked as an odd jobber,” he recalls. Faced with a bleak future, he knew he had to do something to change his life, and that of his young wife. “My wife could cook and sell cassava on the streets of Eldoret as she tried to fend for the family.”

Then, in 1993, after the tribal clashes that rocked Eldoret, Kariuki’s house was razed down by irate villagers. Fortunately, he managed to escape with his life. He

relocated his family to Ol Kalou where he settled on farming as a last resort. “Life was unbearable. I had to move back to Eldoret to fend for my family.” Back to the drawing board, and the vicious cycle of poverty encapsulated him. His life took a turn for the better when a well-wisher empathized with him and offered him a 25 kilo crate of tomatoes and seed capital of Kes500 to start a new business. With renewed hope, he moved to a bus stop near Huruma estate where he could sell the tomatoes from. However, before he could clear his first stock, he was chased away by a group of agitated market women who saw him as a threat to their businesses. Not one to give up easily, he went to hire space outside a supermarket from where he sold tomatoes. “I knew I had to press on,” he says recalling how he purchased a hand cart at Kes9000. With this hard cart, Kariuki would assist residents moving from one house to the other, for a fee. As business boomed, he bought six other hard carts and employed six people. A creative entrepreneur, he spotted another gap that he could fill. As the population of Huruma grew, garbage collection was a problem. As you walked through the streets, you could find piles of garbage

Business people should not fear getting financial help to grow their businesses. They only need discipline to repay the loans on time. I’m proof that timely financial intervention can easily make your business move from good to great

strewn all over. Kariuki knew there was a way he could stop this. He dived into the garbage collection business and used his hard carts as the means to transport garbage to a central collection point. Using small loans, he structured his business so well that he was soon recognized by the National Environment Management authority as a garbage collector. Today, he runs Bingu Ipo Agencies, a thriving garbage collection firm that now has two lorries, employing eight people. Kariuki has also diversified into retail. He runs Bingu Ipo Supermarket in Huruma which has a stock value of Kes 0.5 million. These, combined with his M-Pesa business, earn his bountiful returns every month. Other than this, he has rental units at the heart of Huruma which help him to boost his revenue. The father of five attributes his success in business to a cordial relationship that he has cultivated with financial institutions. “Business people should not fear getting financial help to grow their businesses. They only need discipline to repay the loans on time. I’m proof that timely financial intervention can easily make your business move from good to great.”

HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

opinion

SKILLS

Hire people with skills, not many degrees By Prof. Bitange Ndemo

If employers loved wisdom, they would hire people with skills and not those with a trail of papers that serve no good for humanity

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dam Grant, an American psychologist and professor at the Wharton School once said; “The mark of higher education isn’t the knowledge you accumulate in your head. It’s the skills you gain about how to learn.” In essence, learning begins after school. This is perhaps the reason many employers prefer work experience, for skills are what differentiate us, not how high we have climbed the tertiary education ladder. Psychologist Richard Gross defined learning as the process of acquiring new or modifying knowledge, behaviours, skills, values or preferences. Pythagoras simplified it as the “love of wisdom” (philosophia) or philosophy. During Pythagoras’ time, philosophy became a significant area of study, addressing a broad spectrum and essential questions about what Wilfrid

Sellars explained in her works, Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind, as our existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and language. The questions were often in the form of a problem that they then studied or resolved. Since then, much has been settled, resulting in the accumulation of much of the wisdom we have today. Our role, therefore, is to advance the thinking around our existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language, not just in academia, but also in practice. For example, we need to ask what has fundamentally changed in our society that we are witnessing brutal murders never seen before? If education was meant to safeguard our democracy, why do we elect bad people? Why do we fail to plan for drought? The answers to these questions lie squarely in the hands of those who we choose or select to represent us or work in our organisations. If we loved

wisdom, we could choose our leadership wisely. If employers loved wisdom, they would hire people with skills and not those with a trail of papers that serve no good for humanity. A quick survey on employment advertisement, even for mundane jobs, now requires a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree. The demand for such higher degrees is causing problems in higher education where the motivation for acquiring a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree is more to satisfy employer demand than the pursuit of knowledge. This practice also applies to doctoral programmes too where the employer is arbitrarily asking for PhD within a specified time to teach at university. As we move towards the fourth industrial revolution, it is time to start using

credit scoring in deciding who is the best employee. To do this, organisations must define the goal, which in my view is to develop students on how to learn and be curious. Although different organisations could have different credit scoring models, the one common aspect to all models is data. With technology, it is possible to collect both structured and unstructured data about employees. Other critical aspects to developing a working credit scoring model agree to the relevant data with all stakeholders. In the teaching profession, there are multiple sources of data, including data from students, parents and the employer. Employers must develop mechanisms of gathering and storing data from every unit taught through competency tests.

Use the data to relate to the student, parent comments and other social credits to determine the competence of the teacher or lecturer. It may sound like much work, but financial institutions have developed such scoring mechanisms that they can detect defaulters. The existing performance models have not been helpful to employers too since they keep on adding requirements of higher degree as a basis of discrimination instead of finding right person with right skills. The credit scoring may be our knight in shining armour in our employment and retention of employees. As for the political process, we need prayers. The writer is an associate professor at University of Nairobiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School of Business.

HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

opinion

FINTECH

By Ashlene Ramadan

To send money back home, a city worker had to put his salary in a envelope and pay a courier to travel for hours by road to the rural village

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Africa’s unbanked population could be one of the biggest opportunities in fintech history

nnovation that shapes an industry takes time. It is through small, incremental improvements that eventually lead to a whole new business or industrial paradigm. It is often reserved for economies that have the financial and human capital to invest, research, and eventually develop at population-wide scale. However, one of the most important attributes of Africa’s developing economies is the ability to “leapfrog” redundant and inferior eras of technological advancement. Take banking for example: in developed nations, we are accustomed to the shift from bank tellers to ATMs, from ATMs to online banking from your desktop, and then from online banking to Venmo. The amount of time, effort, capital, and brainpower it takes to go from one of those standards to the other is remarkable. It also requires the entire consuming population to learn these new ideas, see if they improve their efficiency, and eventually

adopt them. That’s where things get a little different in developing nations: the resources just aren’t available to make these big risk bets on innovation. Let’s take Kenya for example, over 37 million Kenyans have an SMS-capable mobile phone, but if you look at the number of ATMs or even desktop computers, they pale in comparison. This creates a unique opportunity. As the West develops new standards in mobile banking, countries in Africa need not adopt the previous advancements (ATMs, online banking, etc), but can jump straight to the new, frictionless mobile infrastructure. Today, mobile payment solutions are available to those without a traditional bank account and that is exactly why the opportunity for African financial technology companies is so big and that the same rules and paradigms do not apply. M-Pesa, Kenya’s first mobile wallet launched

in 2007 to seamlessly transfer funds throughout Kenya using SMS. Most of the Kenyan population live in rural areas but the majority of the jobs and banks are in the cities. To send money back home, a city worker had to put his salary in a envelope and pay a courier to travel for hours by road to the rural village. M-Pesa then came into play to digitize the process and give the low income workers the ability to send money instantly and without the risks of physical transportation. But when one problem is solved, a bigger vision is required. M-Pesa made domestic payments easy, but when a payment needed to cross borders transaction fees could soar up to 31%. The goal that ensued was a mobile infrastructure that could connect the entire population of Africa. Among the first to do so was Flutterwave, a Nigerian startup created to unify Africa’s fragments system through a single API. They released their first product called Moneywave, a solution providing local merchants the capability to send money anywhere in Africa to any bank

M-Pesa then came into play to digitize the process and give the low income workers the ability to send money instantly and without the risks of physical transportation

account or digital wallet instantaneously which alternatively would’ve taken days to do. This is done by adding an API layer that integrates into the merchant’s business platform. Now merchants can easily accept payment from an M-Pesa user and do not have to go through the hassle of managing an account. This is a solid first step, but the new wave of innovation is yet to come. With Google and Facebook leading the race to improve internet access in rural areas of Africa – in a bid to become the “homepage of the internet” for new web users – the opportunities widen for small merchants. It’s been estimated that by 2020, there will be 525 million smartphones in Sub-Saharan Africa. Small merchants will have the capabilities to expand their business across Africa, developer their brand, and tap into the rise of online purchases. With this modernization, new opportunities for African Fintech startups will emerge at a rate of knots. Ashlene is the senior program manager for Fintech in the Middle East.

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FINTECH

FINTECH IN KENYA BOOSTS EAST AFRICA’S ECONOMY: ICAEW By ICAEW

ast Africa region’s gross domestic product is forecast to grow to 6.3%, reinforced by the development of Kenya’s financial technology (fintech) scene, a recent survey reveals. The Economic Insight: Africa Q1 2019 report by the Institute of Chartered in England and Wales (ICEAW) also shows that fintech in Kenya may be on course to overtake traditional economic drivers.

Although traditional economic drivers remain strong performers, sectors such as agriculture could waver due to the delay in long rainsin the country. However, ICEAW Regional Director for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia Michael Armstrong said that Kenya’s economy is ripe for diversification with the growth of fintech. “Growth in Kenya is currently driven mostly by traditional sectors, however, its strong FinTech scene provides an opportunity to diversify and increase growth avenues for

Michael Armstrong, ICEAW Regional Director for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. the economy in general,” he says. Mr Armstrong adds that this can foster inclusive development, “but it can only happen if it is managed properly.” The East Africa region has already established itself as a global leader in mobile money transfer services. Kenya, propelled by M-Pesa, has been at the forefront of this growing sector. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the value of mobile money transactions in Kenya was equivalent to 47% of GDP in 2017. Kenya’s Information Technology sector is also reinforced by the presence of global tech firms Google, Microsoft, IBM and Samsung. “Widespread mobile money usage has helped to smooth consumption, reduce poverty and boost economic growth in Kenya,” said Mr. Armstrong. Mobile money accounts are also on the rise in neighbouring countries. In Rwanda, the ratio of mobile money accounts to persons stands at nearly 1,250 per 1,000 adults in Rwanda. Uganda’s is just over 1,000 per 1,000 adults. Within Africa, other countries seeing a similar proliferation of mobile money accounts include Ivory Coast (1,700 accounts per 1,000 adults) and Ghana (1,350 accounts per 1,000 adults). In terms of East Africa’s economic performance, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda are all expected to record a real GDP growth of 6%. Infrastructure investment and the expansion of financial services and telecoms services continue to support growth in these countries. Accountancy body ICEAW also forecasts that GDP growth is set to grow at 4.4% in West and Central Africa, 4.9% in Franc Zone and 1.5% in Southern Africa. HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

MAIN STORY

FINTECH

Philip Nyamwaya, co-founder and managing director of iPay.

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THE FINTECH VISIONARY Philip Nyamwaya is building ipay into one of Kenya’s most innovative payment companies By the Hustle Team

hen he talks about the payments industry, Philip Nyamwaya’s face lights up, radiating a deep passion for what he does. He is the co-founder and managing director of ipay, a leading payments gateway that serves a growing list of businesses, merchants, retailers, corporate organizations, and a host of companies in both the public and the private sectors. It enables them to make or receive payments in a safe, secure and affordable way. “Essentially, we have packaged all the payments methods in the national payments system to create a product called ipay.” He says that ipay allows customers and clients to transact using payment methods like M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Equitel, Eazzy 24/7, Pesalink, m-visa, Mastercard QR, as well as credit and debit cards. To meet the billing needs of customers, ipay has a billing component that enables users to make utility payments, including paying for internet services or buying airtime. iPay has grown tremendously over the years to become one of the leading payments companies in Kenya. It has also expanded into other African countries, including Uganda, Tanzania and Togo. The company recently launched an affiliates program for rewarding ipay partners, including developers, programmers, designers, merchants, and individuals. For the last eight years, Philip, a computer science graduate has been the company’s driving force. He has painstakingly built the firm to the fintech giant that it is today. He reckons that business in borne in identifying a need and rising to satisfy it. And that’s what drove him to set up a payments gateway. Philip’s entrepreneurship journey dates back to his days at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology. As a young programmer, his dream mirrored that of most young people; to study hard, get a well-paying job in the corporate sector and rise through the ranks. The entrepreneurship bug bit him in his third

year of study, when one of his campus friends, Ken Ngunjiri, introduced him to the world of entrepreneurship. “He was a year ahead of me and was swamped with coursework and projects, so he requested that I help him with one of his client’s projects,” says Philip. A self driven person, Philip worked extraordinarily hard to deliver the project. It paid off. His client, an elephant conservation NGO was satisfied with his work and engaged him for a long time. “That was my big break,” says Philip, adding that the part-time job enabled him to raise his fourth year school fee. Having tested the waters of self employment, he resolved to work on his studies with renewed optimism, with plans to plunge into the murky but promising waters of business after college. In 2004, he teamed up with a friend, Steve Nyumba to start Intrepid Data Systems, an I.T startup. “We launched our company at a time when the wind of optimism was sweeping across the country. A new government led by Mwai Kibaki was a breath of fresh air for most businesses.” Armed with their skills set, a big dream and the willpower to prosper, Philip and Steve took a leap of faith and set out on a journey. With sheer hard work, they were able to grow the fledgling firm into a thriving enterprise. So tremendous was their growth that they won several entrepreneurship awards within a few years of operation. Despite a burst of prosperity, the two founders never relented. When M-Pesa was launched in 2007, Philip and Steve felt challenged to find a way of integrating the technology into their systems. They knew that innovation is the lifeblood of great entrepreneurs, and they were already thinking ahead of the curve. “Opportunity favors the prepared,” says Philip of his mantra that has seen him thrive as an entrepreneur. He says that at around the same time, some merchants were enquiring about e-commerce. While e-commerce was popular in the developed world, it was a relatively new phenomenon in Kenya and the early adopters paid a steep price when making or receiving payments to or from abroad.

“The only available payments methods were PayPal and credit cards. However, these were very expensive services because of the many charges and surcharges,” says Philip. One of the hallmarks of great entrepreneurs is their ability to spot opportunities and to pounce on them. Nosing an opportunity, he developed ipay in 2008 and build it around M-Pesa. It allowed merchants to make or receive payments using M-Pesa. Philip, who was by then pursuing a Master’s degree in software engineering was given the mandate to spearhead ipay operations. In 2010, the board of directors at Intrepid Data Systems decided to separate ipay from its parent company, setting it on a pedestal. Philip says that the company’s long and winding journey from a small internal project to a fully fledged payments gateway was punctuated by ups and downs, sometimes with hard lessons. These helped him steer the firm to the top. Building the business wasn’t an easy sail for him. First, he had to co-locate physical servers at different data centers as cloud computing was still a relatively new area. “Like most other businesses, we had issues like internet outages that slowed our take off.” “We have been through the valley. Despite the challenges, we live by our principles.” In 2011, the company was able to settle its technology locally, a major milestone. Other milestones followed. In 2013, iPay won a bid to build a payment system for Jumia. In the same year, the company integrated all the available payment methods, including credit cards, into the ipay product. Before this, ipay was primarily handling M-Pesa payments. “We wanted to give value across the board so we decided to be a payments gateway,” he shares. Philip says that the firm was also part of a consortium that was handling payments for Kiambu and Taita Taveta counties, shortly after devolution of counties. The company also created a payments system for Yum foods and worked closely with the Museums of Kenya to automate HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

FINTECH

Meet the boss: • Philip has an undergraduate degree in computer science from Jomo Kenyatta University. • He also holds a Masters in software engineering from University of Liverpool. • Is a part-time lecturer. • Lectures at both JKUAT and Strathmore universities. • Is married. • Grew up in an ordinary Kenyan family

iPay affiliates program launch. their payments. The firm reached one of its greatest milestones when it ventured into other markets, including Tanzania and Uganda. “Our ethos is to listen to our customers. That has pushed us to continually evolve,” says the executive. It’s not hard to see that iPay is on a growth trajectory. Having expanded into the East African market, it’s setting its eyes on other regions. Philip says the company is launching in Togo. Can its success be replicated across Africa? “ipay has been well received in most African countries. We have seen many people interacting with our product,” he says. However, he notes that there are many other countries with dynamics similar to those of Kenya. These, he says could be the next frontiers for mobile money. “In terms of technology, Kenya is ahead of its neighbors. However, Tanzania looks set to catch up.” Listening to him talk about mobile commerce, you’ll immediately notice that he is bullish about the nascent industry. According to the Communication Authority, Kenya has one of the highest mobile penetration rates in Africa. Given that most Kenyans access the internet using the mobile phone, there’s no doubt that mobile commerce is poised for explosive growth. “When it comes to e-commerce, we have only scratched the surface. The infrastructure is there and companies are increasingly aligning themselves

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to make use of the existing infrastructure and value chains.” To serve the huge number of Facebook entrepreneurs, iPay has built a product that meets all their payments needs. Having built a thriving firm from scratch, Philip knows a thing or two about running a successful business. He advises the youthful entrepreneurs to dream big but start small. He says that they also need to be inquisitive and to aspire to be problem solvers. “Honesty and integrity are some of the key values that you need to thrive,” he advises. Having encountered many challenges at the start-up stage, Philip is passionate about helping the youth to realize their full potential. He says that when he was studying computer science at the university, the institution didn’t have internet. Things have changed drastically and young entrepreneurs now have access to affordable and fast internet, cloud computing, and incubation centers. ipay’s affiliates program, he says, is creating a value ecosystem that rewards all of ipay partners. “It’s so much easier to build lots of apps when we have a value ecosystem. We are happy to enable the youth to add more value to their customers.” As far as the future is concerned, ipay wants to increase its footprint in Africa. In the meantime, Philip is doing what he knows best; simplifying the payment process for businesses.

• Is an avid reader. • Currently reading “Dead Aid” by Dambisa Moyo • Believes that reading opens up your world. • Leaves office by 4p.m • Creates time to be with his family. • Spends time with his family over the weekends.

Q&A

“Entrepreneurs have to work three times harder than everyone else,”Philip Nyamwaya, co-founder, iPay. By Amos Wachira

e started from the bottom. When he launched his business at the university’s hostels, he didn’t have the basics, like a computer. He had to convince his mother to buy him one. Luckily, she did, and Philip Nyamwaya set out to try his hand in the murky waters of entrepreneurship. As they say, nothing comes easy. He had to work extra ordinarily hard to achieve success. But not before brushing with the challenges that rock startups. “After I founded the company, the first few months were tough. The company wasn’t profitable. At times, the business could only afford to pay a salary of Kes5000 which was barely enough to cover my transport costs,” he says. But despite the challenges, he went on to set up one of the leading, indigenous payments firms in the country.

to see the gaps in society. As an entrepreneur, this can trigger you to come up with solutions to solve the problems that you see around. You need to be disciplined to do well as an entrepreneur. And discipline starts with little things like making your bed in the morning. For me, my mum had drummed into my head some of these values. Be inquisitive. You need to ask “what if” questions. And you need yo have a desire to solve problems. Working with your hands also helps you to be creative. Start small, then grow. Love what you do. Once you believe in what you do, you can easily convince others to support you. Structure your plans. Having passion is not enough, you need a plan to grow.

Hustle East Africa interviewed him and extracted the following entrepreneurship tips. Excerpts What makes a successful entrepreneur? It’s a combination of factors including the environment and exposure to other entrepreneurs. The exposure doesn’t need to be physical but can be through books. To awaken your entrepreneurship flair, you need a catalyst. For me, I was inspired by my elder brother who had a book by Lee Iacocca, the man who turned around Chrysler. I saw that book as a small 13-year-old boy. When I was about to join campus, I read it and it inspired me. Later on, I was lucky to meet an entrepreneurial friend at the University. Ken Ngunjiri believed in me and created the hunger in me to pursue business. The environment also matters. When you travel around the country, you interact with people. That’s how you get

At times, the business could only afford to pay a salary of Kes5000 which was barely enough to cover my transport costs

Honesty and integrity Even if you have the best product out there, you need honesty and integrity to thrive. If people cannot trust you, than you’re doomed as a business. You also need to have the fear of God. For me, faith in God has been one of my pillars. Never be impatient for success As an entrepreneur, you need to know that business is about making sacrifices and its all about delayed gratification. When I left campus, most of my former school mates got plum jobs. It didn’t bother me as I concentrated on building my business. You also need to focus on the business. Entrepreneurs have to work three times harder than anyone else at the start-up level. It pays off. Have a work-life balance. Never let your business consume you, because it can. And finally, never let success get into your head. Does school prepare you to be an entrepreneur? School is important. It helps you think in a structured way. However, it’s not sufficient to make you an entrepreneur. You need to have a combination of many values, including passion, patience, hard work, ability to spot opportunities, to take risks, among others. Should capital be an impediment when starting a business? No. Myles Munroe once said, “find something in your society to do. Do it well. You will not miss clients.” Start where you are and work hard. At some point, you’ll need some capital. When that time comes, you can approach family and friends, as charity begins at home. When we launched iPay, we didn’t have adequate capital. We banked on our parent company to support us. When the business stabilized, we reimbursed the mother company. HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

MAIN FEATURE

COMMUNITY CURRENCIES

A Complementary Way of Doing Business A local community organization that pioneered community currencies now looks at blockchain to enhance financial inclusion By Amoxers Wachira

A Sarafu-Credit user from Lindi, Kibera.

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new kind of paper currency is giving a financial lifeline to residents. In Gatina slums, which is part of the sprawling Kawangware estate, residents have found a new way of doing business: they use community currencies to trade goods and services. For the last five years, the traders have used special printed vouchers to buy and sell commodities, alongside the national currency, the Kenya shilling. Christened Gatina-pesa or Sarafu-Credit, the new currency enables traders to sell or buy their excess goods or services while reserving the national currency which they save for other needs. The currency, issued by Grassroots Economics, a not for profit organization consist colorful, security printed vouchers with denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 which are equal in value to the Kenya shilling of corresponding value. Unlike national currency which is issued and backed by the Central Bank, community currencies are backed by the goods and services

of the issuing business network, making them decentralized and interest-free. A large network of vendors, tradespeople and schools back the currency, enabling trade to occur between people who lack enough national currency to spend. Sarafu-Credit is a local means of exchange that does not replace the national currency but rather supplements it, according to Will Ruddick, a development specialist who founded Grassroots Economics. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Community currencies enable the community to fully utilize its existing productive resources, especially unemployed labor, which has a catalytic effect on the rest of the local economy,â&#x20AC;? he shares. The result is an increase in trade within the community, consequently leading to more savings and job creation. In an area that lacks most basic facilities and infrastructure, this comes as a much-needed financial cushion for residents. The voucher is a zero interest loan which is available to people who do not have access to credit. A 2017 Findex report by The World Bank shows that an estimated 82% of Kenyans have a formal financial account with a bank, a microfinance institution or a cooperative, and have used mobile money in the last 12 months. However, the same report paints a gloomy picture for women. It shows that out of the one fifth (about 5.3 million) of Kenyan adults that are still unbanked, two-thirds of them are women. It also shows that some 39% of the low-income populations cite cost as a constraint to saving. Unfortunately, this rings true in most informal settlements, where economic stagnation is real. Most households in slums lack access to credit

as they cannot raise the collateral needed by banks, creating a gap which is filled by the credit vouchers, says Ruddick. Here is how community currency works: A not for profit organisation like Grassroots Economics looks for existing small and micro entrepreneurs who work and trade together and encourages them to start a community based organization, or a business network of 100 to 200 people. Each entrepreneur is audited and endorsed by other businesses to be allocated community currency. A new member is issued with 400 Sarafu-Credit which they can use in exchange for various goods and services. Community currency serves as a promissory note for members’ goods or services and can be used to account for barter exchanges among network members. In the sprawling informal settlement, biting poverty keeps most children out of schools as their parents cannot afford tuition fees. But this is quickly changing. With a few schools here accepting community currency, more parents are able to supplement what they have with community currency thus keeping their children in schools, according to Francis Wanjala, a headmaster of a local school in Gatina, who is also the special Programs Coordinator for Grassroots Economics. If the school fees is $3 (Kshs300) for instance, a parent who is struggling to raise the amount is allowed to pay $2 (Kshs200) in national currency while she tops up the balance using community currency, explains Wanjala. With increased trade and improved savings within communities, dreams of prosperity which could be seen as farfetched a few years ago are slowly turning into reality. For Esther Wanjiru, a local trader whose business accepts community currency, saving for a better life is now easier. She says that her business has also recorded increased sales since she started using Sarafu-Credit a few years ago, leading to more savings for her household. She represents a growing list of traders who have seen their lives change since the currency was introduced in their area. When times are hard and we cannot afford a commodity due to scarce national currency, we use community currency to top up the difference, she adds. Dr. Radha Upadhyaya, a lecturer at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi says that community currencies can be thought of as a voucher

Will Rúddick,founder of Grassroots Economics. that helps people exchange goods and services in poor income areas where there is little currency circulating by the middle of the month. “It is a low cost way of reducing poverty,” she adds. Other than this, communities using community currencies report a greater sense of pride, economic security and community cohesion, according to Ruddick. To improve the living standards of the communities, a currency-issuing business network collects a portion of the credits as tax which is used to fund public service projects like trash collection and road maintenance. However, the amount of community currency in circulation must be regulated. Ruddick explains: Since the currency is akin to a loan without monetary collateral it is important that not too much is issued, (but rather that it circulates rapidly). Ruddick realized that most people in low-income communities often have goods and services to trade, but lack money which they can use to purchase wares from each other. The currencies allow people in these villages to exchange goods and services without relying on scarce traditional money. He is not new to the printing of complementary currencies in Kenya. In his bid to bring prosperity to poverty-stricken communities, he started piloting community

currencies eight years ago in Mombasa and Nairobi. This culminated in the launch of the first complementary currency, Bangla-Pesa in Mombasa in 2013. The notes were printed on special paper, complete with serial numbers and ultraviolet ink that makes it hard to counterfeit. The notes were issued free of charge to the first batch of 200 businesses. After a month of trading, the Bangla-Pesa program was billed successful. Ruddick says that there was 22 per cent increase in trade within the community. The program’s success prompted Grassroots Economics to introduce four similar currencies namely Ngombeni-Pesa in Kwa Ngombe( Mombasa), Gatina-Pesa in Kawangware, Lindi-Pesa in Kibera and Kangemi-Pesa in Kangemi, Nairobi. So far, Grassroots Economics has issued roughly 40,000 Kenyan Shillings worth of Community currency in each community, totaling to about Kshs200, 000 in circulation in Kenya. However, this success came at a steep price. At one point after launching the first community currency, Ruddick and his team were arrested over allegations that the currency was funding a secessionist group in Mombasa, followed by claims of forgery from Central Bank of Kenya. But on August 23rd, 2013, Director of Public Prosecutions deemed the programs legal and compliant with all laws inHUSTLE EAST AFRICA

COMMUNITY CURRENCIES

cluding CBK Act. The reason is, we are not trying to create a separate currency, but rather give people access to credit in the form of rotating vouchers, says Ruddick. But experts warn that these currencies also limit economic activities. Dr. Upadhyaya says that use of community currencies prevent participants from getting goods and services from outside the local economy, translating to small exchange networks. Ruddick says the networks (which continue to grow with time) boost trade by creating a local credit reserve where at least 10 percent of local consumption is locally produced and trade facilitated by community currency. “The use of community currency actually improves the local economies, even in Kenyan Shilling sales,” says Ruddick. The currencies have continued to create an impact on communities in Kenya and beyond. Through a partnership with Cape University, Ruddick and his team have introduced two community currencies in South Africa. So far, plans are underway to roll out the currencies in more villages across East Africa including Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania. What some Kenyans perhaps don’t understand is that any group in Kenya can create a mutual-credit exchange to aid in trade, savings, and loans, shares Ruddick. This form of currency is not the only one to run into trouble with the regulator. A few years ago, the Central Bank of Kenya, through a statement, warned Kenyans against buying or selling the virtual currency Bitcoin claiming that ‘bitcoin transactions are largely untraceable and anonymous making them susceptible to abuse.’ Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that was created by a pseudonymous person using the alias of ‘Satoshi Nakamoto.’ Unlike community currencies which are paper money, Bitcoins are virtual cash that only exists in a digital form. According to Elizabeth Rossiello, the managing director of BitPesa, a local startup that trades bitcoins in Kenya, virtual currencies are not illegal in Kenya. However, she says, the market is still emerging, although with myriad challenges. These include ignorance among Kenyans, failure by the government to accept such currencies and lack of financial partnerships with major monetary players like banks. “But this is a technology whose time has come and is unstoppable.”

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Elizabeth Rossiello is CEO and founder of Bitpesa, the first company in the world to link mobile money to Bitcoin. Former Bitpesa marketing manager Martin Likoko says that Bitcoin is a new technology whose adoption might take time, but is poised to disrupt the financial sector in coming years. It’s steadily gaining traction in downtown Nairobi, where a handful of merchants are accepting Bitcoins as a method of payment. One such trader is Robin Murage, who sells electronics in one of the shops along Luthuli avenue in Nairobi’s CBD. He says he started accepting the virtual currencies to appeal to a youthful and tech savvy segment of buyers. However, virtual currencies like Bitcoin have their own share of flaws, the greatest one being price volatility. Bitcoin for instance is known for its extreme price fluctuations. In December 2017 for instance, a unit of Bitcoin was retailing at $20,000 (Kes2Million), up from $1,139 (Kes. 113, 900) in January 2017. Away from virtual currencies, community currencies are gaining popularity across the world, from Europe, Africa to the U.S.A.

Will Ruddick says that alternative currencies threaten to bring into light what has long been swept under the rug in terms of why monetary policies have brought about inequality. Even with the relative success of community currencies, Ruddick is not yet done. He recently launched Bancor into the country. Famous for being backed by venture capitalist Tim Draper and raising one of the largest ICOs of 2017 (about 390k ETH, worth about $153 million (Kes 1.5 billion at that time). Bancor is Ruddick’s vehicle that will introduce cryptocurrencies to Kenya’s unbanked population. Bancor launched a pilot project to digitize the Sarafu-Credit system. The idea behind digitizing these various community currencies is not only for convenience and immutable record keeping using blockchain, but also to connect the disparate currencies together into a larger and more vibrant ecosystem. “I see this potential awakening as a very good thing for the health of society and more stable economies,” he says.

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FEATURE Rising Unicorn The trailblazing story of Jumia, Africa’s first unicorn By Jeff Korir

t’s official: Africa has its own unicorn. Not the mythical beast with a single horn, but a tech giant that has seen explosive growth in the e-commerce industry, at a time when similar startups barely survive past their second birthday. There’s no denying that the rise and rise of Jumia, which was founded in Nigeria in 2012 inspires hope to tens of other tech startups. Jeremy Hodara teamed up with Sacha Poignonnec to found Jumia in Nigeria. Other cofounders were Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Kofi Afaedor. The company, which raised $193 million after listing at the New York Stock Exchange early this year, serves over four million customers across 14 African countries. It network of 81000 sellers. A unicorn is a tech company that has attained a $1 billion valuation. When Jumia listed at the NYSE in April, its shares rose 75% on the first day of trading, essentially putting the company’s market value at$1.9billion. Jumia believes it’s Africa’s answer to global unicorns like Alababa, Amazon and eBay. Soon after launching in Nigeria in 2012, Jumia was keen on creating an African footprint. It launched in Morocco, South Africa and Egypt in the same year, selling women’s fashion items and mobile phones. The company then embarked on an expansion drive that saw it launch in other African countries, including Kenya. It also grew its product offering and sells a huge variety of goods, including furniture, food and cosmetics. Violet Rotich is one of Nairobi’s burgeoning micro entrepreneurs. She opened an online shop and anchored it on the Jumia marketplace. She sells men’s shoes, and business is booming. “Jumia allows me to access thousands of customers across Kenya. Their logistics

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infrastructure is well structured, enabling us to make same day deliveries within Nairobi at minimal cost, and without stress,” she says. She represents a growing list of entrepreneurs who are building thriving business pegged on Jumia. When Jumia thrives, they thrive too. But listing at the NYSE elicited mixed reactions, with most of its supporters claiming it could dilute its African roots. Its co-founder Sacha Poignonnec seems to disagree with this notion. “Jumia is focusing on Africa, “ he says. “We have tailored it to meet the specific needs of African sellers and consumers. We are not trying to serve the global market, but to serve Africa because Jumia was built for Africa.” Seen as the Amazon of Africa, the parent company of Jumia Technologies elected to list in New York because of investors. “We decided to go through New York because that is where the best understanding of the investor side is about

our business model,” said Jumia Kenya MD Sam Chappatte. “That’s why you see many other global tech companies list in New York as well.” The Jumia Kenya MD added listing on the NYSE was also geared at affording investors a good return on investment. “What’s important is that investors understand the business model so that we can raise funding so that we can continue to invest in Kenya and across the rest of the continent,” Chappatte said. He added that there are 700 million customers in the countries it serves, yet most of these have never tried online commerce. He said that their focus is adoption and not competition. Jumia is credited for pioneering e-commerce in most African countries. The company has build the infrastructure and logistics hubs from scratch, albeit at a steep price. It’s co-founder and CEO says the company is yet to consistently turn in a profit. In 2017 and 2018, the company made losses of $185.3 and $191.0 million.

Telecommunications giant MTN held a stake of almost 30% in Jumia. With the listing, MTN has diluted its stake to less than 19%. Its pre-listing prospectus warned that Jumia “relies on external financing and may not be able to raise necessary more capital on economically acceptable terms, or at all; other risks include that its business may be materially and adversely affected by an economic slowdown in any region of Africa”. Poignonnec said Jumia encountered problems such as creating trust and deciding on the right form of payment. Regarding logistics, he said: “We have built a platform where we work with hundreds of local partners who are operating their own business and we offer them tools, technology and data for them do their business and deliver products.” Jumia’s listing could be the catalyst that Africa needs to create more unicorns that can compete at the global stage.

Jumia’s bell ringing ceremony at the NYSE. HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

FEATURE

FIT FOR BUSINESS

Fitness lecturer dives into gymnasium business and scoops success

By Team Hustle

r. Vincent Muasya is a fitness enthusiast turned entrepreneur. He started his career in the fitness industry after enrolling for a course in Physical Education at Kenyatta University. “My passion and skill for fitness saw me employed as a fitness trainer at the Kenyatta University fitness Centre even before I finished my undergraduate course,” he says. His desire to impact people and help them adapt a fitness lifestyle drove him into starting his first gym on Ngong road and later in Kahawa Wendani. “As they

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say these were the learning years, I didnt fail but I learned how it doesnt work. Both gyms did not survive past two years,” he says of his first venture. Armed with failure lessons and how it doesn’t work hands on experience Body & Spirit Gym was born in 2007 in Kahawa Wendani. He set out the gym away from where he had established his failed business. With minimal basic equipment (most of which was borrowed from a friend) it lacked the aesthetic feel and appeal. The gym had a shared room for weights and aerobics. Despite the humble beginings, the gym grew tremendously fast, until the ghosts of post-election

violence reared their ugly head. “Post election violence had a negative impact on gym attendance as there was a lot of uncertainty as most people had travelled to their villages for safety reasons,” he says. Soon after the violence dissipated, the gym stabilized and reclaimed its lost glory. The number of people patronizing it shot astronomically. Seeing an opportunity, Vincent saw the need to expand his business. He set aside separate rooms for aerobics and weights. Faced with the challenge of not having an ample parking space and inadequate changing rooms, the gym relocated to the neighboring Kahawa Sukari estate in May

2017. Our membership has grown over the years but most importantly we have seen lives changed, destinies transformed and people’s health positively touched. We still have clients that were with us over 10 years ago, a testimony that we are doing something that is touching lives in the right direction. Our persuasion and conviction is to stay on course and that’s why our name is Body & Spirit Gym.” To explain the importance of exercising, he quotes the Bible; “people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Isaiah 53:9) and bodily exercise has profit (Hosea 4:6). His facility provides Cardio, Strength, Dance, Flexibility and Defense classes. The gym’s outdoor sessions have also become very popular as they serve as an opportunity to venture into the outdoors, add variety to workouts, kill boredom and sustain enthusiasm. “The benefits of regular exercise are many and varied. Our desire @Body & Spirit Gym is to drive our clients to a place where they adopt exercise as a lifestyle to mitigate against lifestyle diseases,

have adequate energy to carry out their daily activities without undue fatigue, have reserve energy to enjoy leisure time pursuits and still have reserve energy to respond to emergencies.” His gym targets mature clients most of whom lead a busy life that is devoid of adequate physical activity. “We also take pride in having athletes as part of our clientele,” he adds. Vincent says that all businesses have challenges, and hid is no exemption. His biggest challenge is exercise adherence among his registered clients. “This is because many come with unrealistic expectations and goals. Some want to do too much too soon to see results after a week.” Vincent has also had to dispel lots of myths, misconceptions and commercial gimmicks that are doing rounds especially on social media, about exercise. He does this through pre-exercise counseling, setting realistic goals with customers, applying the principles of training and advising customers to change their eating habits to reflect their desired fitness goals. The fitness world is ever evolving. New

fitness trends continue to emerge. Among the most popular ones are Cross fit, Sport training, Strength training, Corporate fitness, HIIT training, Dance and Outdoor fitness. These are not to be confused with trending fitness fads and a fitness craze- some of which are hazardous and pose danger to participants. “Amazingly, someone asked, why are people training so hard. Is there war coming?” Fitness is a serious industry that continues to grow day by day. Vincent forecasts that in the next five years, it will be impossible to ignore this industry due to its contribution in improving health and boosting the economy. “From where I sit, I see a dire and urgent need to treat our PE lessons with the seriousness they deserve to inculcate a culture of being physically active from an early age to ease hypokinetic ailments and meet personal, national and global health goals.” VINCENT MUASYA can be reached on +254714345671, or Vinmwithi19@gmail. com Fb- Dr. Vincent Muasya Ig- Dr. Vincent Muasya

HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

FARMING

MILK ATM

Tapping money from milk ATMs One entrepreneur is helping milk vendors, and by extension, farmers, to earn handsomely By Amos Wachira

or the last few years, Kenyans across the country have been buying milk from unique vending machines. Geoffrey Gitonga, the founder of Farming Solutions Limited, is one of the key suppliers of milk ATMs, which have gained massive popularity in most towns. He founded the firm in 2012 to solve a problem that he thought was eating into the incomes of dairy farmers spread all over the country. He says he came across the milk ATMs concept on the internet. Given his background in agriculture, he was aware of the problems facing Kenyan dairy farmers. One of these, he says, was how to market their cows’ milk. He says he was saddened to learn that middlemen were taking advantage of the dairy farmer as they milked them dry, buying their milk at unreasonably low prices. “I realized that the demand for clean quality milk was high in the urban centers, yet farmers had an oversupply. That is how the milk ATMs idea was born,” shares the bubbly entrepreneur. Having worked in the agrichemicals industry for a long time, as a sales manager at Twiga Chemicals and at his own Agrovet in Eldoret, he says he felt he had what it takes to be a businessman, and thus decided to plunge into entrepreneurship. “I had fled the 2007 post-election violence in Eldoret. After I settled in Nairobi, I set up the business to be an alternative source of income,” he says. Brilliant idea With a brilliant idea and undying hope, he would later approach a manufacturer in Italy who agreed to lease a single

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machine to him. He later introduced the machine to the Kenyan market. He started his venture with a single machine imported from Italy. He could mount it on a pickup truck, moving around city estates as he sold milk to an eager clientele. Before long, the demand for the milk was rising as more people embraced the idea. He says that sights of long queues of people lining up to buy milk from the ATM were a common sight back then. Geoffrey notes that before the machines were introduced into the country, Kenyans had been accustomed to dirty milk, the reason they quickly embraced the dispensers. However, before long, his company had to settle on a permanent location to avoid tussles with the City askaris who were keen on clamping down the venture. After the positive reception in the market, Geoffrey approached various supermarkets in a bid to reach more people. Retail outlets, including supermarket chains, were ordering his machines in huge numbers. Although many other dispensing machines have since been introduced into the market, his brand stood out because of its quality. His firm has so far supplied the machines in Nairobi, Nakuru,

Machakos, Eldoret, Busia, Kisumu and Kakamega, through a leasing arrangement or through direct selling. A quick spot-check in any populous Nairobi suburb shows that the number of milk ATMs are on the rise. So, what makes them tick? “Consumers are sure they are buying clean pasteurized milk, at a good price.” He adds that most of the milk that’s sold in those ATMs is pasteurized and lasts long. “We sell a liter of pasteurized milk at Kes70 while the same measure goes for Kes100 at the supermarkets. Our selling method is also environmentally friendly as customers can come with recyclable plastic bottles. This model eliminates the need for packaging milk, giving the consumer and the farmer more value.” How do the machines work? Milk dispensers have a cooler plant and a dispensing unit. Processed milk is stored in a cold chain (cooler plant) which maintains a temperature of between 0 and 4 degrees Celsius. The capacity of most coolers ranges from 200 to 1200 liters. Customers pay through a digital till machine which dispense milk. The beauty of ATM milk machines is that you can buy milk for as low as Kes10. Currently, Geoffrey is installing digital till machines to replace the coin-taking machines which were breaking down due to ‘dirty coins. He says that the machines spelled the end of an era for most middlemen, who had perfected the act of fleecing farmers.

the milk directly from farmers, we believe farmers will continue seeing more value. We manage to give them good rates for their milk because we do not package the milk,” he adds. Geoffrey is also alive to the fact that some processors exploit farmers. He says that the ideal set up is when the farmers supply milk directly to the processors. Quality ATM machines don’t come cheap. Most are out of reach of the typicla Kenyan farmer. Geoffrey’s company is devising a way of building mini processors that can be bought by farming groups or co-operatives. “We are looking for financiers who can help farmers acquire such equipment. The county governments and co-operative societies should also consider having the milk processors to ensure that dairy farmers are not exploited,” says the Egerton University graduate. Drawbacks Although his venture has grown in leaps and bounds, he has encountered a number of drawbacks. Milk dispensers, he says, are yet to be recognized by the government as dairy machinery and they are not tax exempt. He argues that the government should not tax the machinery if it’s keen on pro-

moting dairy farming. Most of Kenyan dairy farmers are concentrated in rural areas. Geoffrey says that though the youth are increasingly embracing agribusiness, the older generation, which is not tech savvy, is involved in farming. This poses another challenge to his firm as most of these farmers are hard to convince that they can process their own milk or even add value to it to avoid wastage. “It’s of imperative importance that the farmers put some emphasis on marketing and branding their produce. Currently, they mainly focus on production. They then sell the produce to brokers at throw away prices. They need to change this worrying trend.” As far as value addition goes, his firm is not left behind. It’s looking at ways of selling yoghurt and fermented milk through the dispensers. Statistics show that Africa has one of the highest population growth rates. This, says Geoffrey, should be an opportunity for small holder farmers to put their act together and feed the people. For now, Geoffrey and his team will be supplying their milk dispensers to every nook and cranny of this country, until the dairy farmers get ‘the last laugh.’

Exploitative middlemen Kenya, like Italy, has a huge number od dairy farmers. In stark contrast, Italian dairy farmers process and sell their milk while Kenyan farmers bank on exploitative middlemen who sell the unprocessed milk. “Italian dairy farmers have micro processing machines and process their milk at home. They are involved in the milk value chain-processing, branding, marketing and value addition. We looked at Italy and believed the idea could also work here,” he says. His key goal, he says, is to put money into the pockets of farmers. He says his joy is to see many people benefitting from dairy-farming. “The problem has always been the middleman. Now that we are eliminating them and buying HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

FARMING

MARKET PLACE

Online marketplace gives farmers a lifeline A startup is building a mobile application that connects farmers with buyers By Jeff Korir

ost farmers face the recurring challenge of getting a market for their produce. Ironically, due to the hassles of modern life, few people find time to go to the market to buy foodstuffs. There is a disconnect between farmers and their customers. While the typical farmer is based in the rural area, the typical consumer dwells in the urban center. City dwellers rely on fresh produce traders. In Nairobi, it’s common to hear people complaining that the vegetables and fruits they get from the market do not taste as good as those in the rural areas. Sokonect is a mobile application that seeks to connect small-scale farmers to markets in various city centers. The app allows farmers to upload pictures of fresh produce into an online portal where interested buyers can view, and buy. The app, which was piloted in Makueni and Kisii counties is the brainchild of three university students who hatched the idea to help boos farmer-market connection. Esther Monchari, the cofounder of the App says it seeks to address problems facing farmers and buyers. “We came up with the idea after a number of farmers complained of selling their produce at throw away prices due to oversupply,” says Monchari. She adds that Sokonect aims to give farmers a common platform where they can display their goods to a wider consumer network. “When selling farm produce, farmers face long distribution channels resulting to a decrease in revenue,” she shares adding that Sokonect seeks to reduce post-harvest losses. Mbuvi Nyamai, a cofounder, says that as a farmer in Makueni county, he faced difficulties when looking for a market for

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his surplus produce. “I opted to sell my produce through middlemen for lack of access to potential buyers who would in turn sell it at a higher price,” he says. He adds that the narrative was the same for farmers who engaged export companies owing to stringent rules put in place by overseas markets, something that leads to post harvest losses. Being a technology enthusiast, he decided to come up with a remedy for farmers. In 2013, Monchari and Mbuvi teamed up with Dorcas Owino to launch Sokonect. The trio was passionate about solving market related problems that face every farmer. After interacting with many farmers, Monchari says that they identified that farmers lacked a proper marketing

The world is fast evolving into a global village; we live at a time when we are all connected through technology. We are using technology to notify small-scale farmers of new markets

platform.” The world is fast evolving into a global village; We live at a time when we are all connected through technology. We are using technology to notify small-scale farmers of new markets,” she says. Research by Communications Authority shows that most Kenyans (30.5 million) have access to a mobile phone. Monchari and her team is banking on the high rate of mobile phone penetration to reach farmers. How it works To use the software, a farmer needs to register by sending a text to Sokonect. Once registered, farmers are them approved and allowed to upload the pictures of their fresh produce into the system. Any interested buyer can then access the information. Buyers have to download the Sokonect App from the Android store. The can also use a USSD code or access the app using a desktop computer, at www.sokonect.com. In 2013, the trio won gold in the agriculture category of the Safaricom AppWiz challenge. The innovation was also feted by m:lab, an innovation hub the Mobile Impact Venture Program. On the ground, Sokonect is also making airwaves. Isaac Mutinda, a farmer based in Makueni says that the App enabled to sell his beans far from his home area, reaching buyers in as far as Nairobi and Mombasa. “It’s a wonderful innovation. It helps me sell my farm produce easily,” he comments, adding that he can now concentrate on growing his agribusiness venture. Sammy Aswani, another farmer in Kisii says the App have given his banana farming enterprise a new lifeline. “I used to sell my bananas at extremely cheap prices in my home town of Kisii. With Sokonect, I can now sell them to any market, at mouth-watering prices.” Future endeavors Monchari is upbeat that Sokonect will soon be a household name in Kenya. She hopes to take the innovation across the borders, saying that most African farmers face similar problems. “We are optimistic that the software will help farmers across the country. Not only adding more value to their farming businesses but also curbing food insecurity.” HUSTLE EAST AFRICA

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