Startup Kenya

As a student at Virginia Tech in the United States, Mogaka Mwencha would stock up on local Kenyan crafts while on holiday, and display them proudly in his room. His friends would gape over the artefacts and in the spirit of entrepreneurship, Mogaka sold selected pieces at a tidy profit. Little did he know that his passion for Kenyan art would culminate 12 years later in a business worth over Sh10 million. The first venture that the budding entrepreneur embarked upon was in 2000 with college mates from Zambia and Malawi. Through a website called ezuri, they sold African art to the Western market. However, the challenges of importing items, trade restrictions, packaging and transport prevented ezuri from growing. “But the opportunity was there; that was clear,” said Mogaka. Seven years later, he returned to Kenya with his eye keenly trained on online business opportunities. Internet-based “When I returned, I found a few guys setting up Internet-based businesses to facilitat

Young people in Kenya have taken up agriculture to heart, boosting their income and setting themselves up with the skills they need to make a living from agriculture. Receiving training from Farm Africa , these young entrepreneurs improve the quality of their produce and learn how to grow high value crops, such as tomatoes. The training also ensures that the young entrepreneurs tomatoes are packaged and well marketed. Greenhouse technology One of the young entrepreneurs learn about greenhouse technology, and improvised a greenhouse using locally available material and successfully established 700 stems of tomatoes. The harvest received brought in good income, and bettered livelihood. Boosting families’ income Ezekiel, a form three student receiving training, is growing 400 stems of tomatoes in his family’s garden. Obviously proud of his hard work, Ezekiel said: “I hope to sell off my produce very soon so the earnings will supplement my family’s income.” His father said: “W

Creating Economic Oppostunities

Young entrepreneurs are changing the face of Africa. Below is a list of the 30 Africans under 30 years old who are making the most dramatic impact across the continent. Cut across Real Estate, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Media, Tech,  Green tech , Healthcare, Agriculture and Fashion, the 30 young African entrepreneurs, disruptors and innovators featured on this list are impatient to change Africa. Together, they represent the entrepreneurial, innovative and intellectual best of their generation. They’re solving problems like healthcare and electricity shortages, proffering innovative solutions to waste management, building virtual and physical communities and creating lots of jobs. A few of them are manufacturing the foods we love, designing exquisite clothing for our women and some are developing some cool  apps for mobile phones  across Africa.  Not an exhaustive or official list , but closest to a definitive list Drumroll please.....and the best of Africa’s 30 Under 30 – t

A read I thought would be of interest: LITTLE might be known about Imran Khosla, but not so for those who frequent courts or those in the information and communication technology industry. His is a story of a young entrepreneur who has refused to sit and just wait for jobs to come but has decided with the little cash he has to start off his own business that is now giving birth to new ventures beyond what he had imagined. Now in his late twenties, Imran set up his first electronic shop which also sold computer accessories in 2008. “After hearing lots of stories about graduates who have had tormenting search for jobs to no avail, obviously that was not the route I wished to take. I wanted to create my own job, and be my own boss, this was the inspiration that threw me into the world of entrepreneurship, and four years on, I tell you all is well and you cannot believe it I have over ten employees, and whose turnover is running into fortunes now,” Imran says with a cheer. His journ

As we all know by now, at SKY TRUST we are all about youth empowerment. After my inspirational moment in my last post (your welcome), my attention was drawn to the evaluation of the Kenyan job market and its limits towards young people. Thanks to the restrictive requirements from employers and lack of application feedback, young people are being limited in the job market, they are not being provided with the support (at least none that I know of) they need to transition from education to work.  Lack of transparency in recruitment processes and a failure to tailor interviews for people who have no prior experience of work limits young people from accessing employment. Young people are caught up in a 'vicious cycle' as individuals without access to work opportunities as they are turned away from roles requiring experience. This factor prevents business from benefiting from a diverse pool of talent. So could it be a case of mismatched expectation? Its seems to me  that too many

More young people are idle than ever before.  This answer those who have been wondering aloud how bases such as outside Hilton hotel are sometimes packed to capacity with humanity  (n o, most of the people are not picnicking ).  Just walk the streets of Nairobi, and you will find idlers  outside offices, hotels, stalls and restaurants.  One thing that sticks in my mind is mainly the psychological effects of youth unemployment. We all know how frustrating and boring it is to be idle. Not only does it crush your self esteem, you end up feeling worthless and uninspired.  While y oung people go to school, finish and expect to join the job market in order to  meet  their obligations and expectations towards society, they later on discovered how without a job how unforgiving society can be. After a long period of absentee paychecks and diminished savings, a deterioration of the individual begins at the sociological and psychological levels.  Society views unemployment as a sign of fa

Starting a business is not about how intelligent or wealthy one is, but about the practical skills and determination to do what you have to do. Young people in this country need to be show they have skill and talent to turn their lives into something positive.    Many young people are desperate to turn their lives around but find that they are excluded from formal employment because of their background – a lack of qualifications.They find themselves in a deep hole where all options appear to be closed. Personally, I think the jobs market is making a permanent shift and that in future people who can offer their own services will be in the strongest position. The traditional workplace, is evolving and there is already a trend towards more work being outsourced, thus the traditional long-term employment can't be relied on. The only way to be secure is to have the skills and knowledge to create security for oneself, and entrepreneur-ism  is the way to do this. Starting a business

I would like to take this moment and appreciate the goodwill of His Excellence President Uhuru and his Deputy Vice President Ruto for proposing 6 billion worth of funds to women and youth. What intrigues me though is whether youth need more money or more skills. Much as giving young people money to start a business so as to create jobs for themselves, is a great move, priority should be place on equipping them with skills that are needed to empower them in that business.  From observation, it seems that most youth groups, are set up to take out loans because they are available to them, but fail in business, due to lack of cohesion within the group.Because the group was set up for the transaction process (getting the money) its almost impossible for them to make repayments of the loan. Of course not all youth groups go through this, they are some successful stories, but they seem the minority. Kenya's youth need capacity building (skills), especially on the issue of busi

Kenya has, 80% unemployed youth between the ages of 15-34 years old (study by UNDP). Basically this means that more than 1.8 millon unemployed are young people. Youth unemployment is the most pressing issue for young people in everyday life. Promises (e.g., free education,  diverse  economy that is less dependent on agriculture, so that they’re are jobs in other industries for young people, who flock the urban center) have been made to create jobs, including attempts to diagnose and fix the problems causing youth unemployment. T he youth however are aware that the promises are often forgotten right after they have been made. Most have been unable to find full-time jobs, instead resulting to minor jobs such as selling fruit on the roadside. It is one of the informal jobs known as "tarmacking" – walking the streets looking for day-to-day tasks, which are low paid. Were as  there is seemingly good intentions to empowering the youth, more positive impact is needed on th

Its a beautiful Friday morning this side of Africa, the sun is out, weather not as gloomy as it has been the past days. What does that all have to do with this post? Everything.... especially that's its a great day to be alive and getting something going that is helping in making other peoples lives better. While alive (work with me), I recently came across a story about young people now engaging in business deals with prominent business people in order to attain state contracts. How it  works, a prominent dealer, targets a disadvantage young entrepreneur, with the belief that he/she will not be found out because they lack the scent of "obviousness" and the capability to exploit the procurement process, making it quite easy for them to be granted the contract. Why do they do so? Because they are rules that govern the procurement procedure in Kenya, so that dishonest business people don't benefit all the time. So sponsoring young less fortunate people to get the jo

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Harry Karanja, for donating his blog to Startup Kenya Youth Trust SKY TRUST, as the French would say it, "merci beaucoup" . As highlighted in the previous post, Startup Kenya Youth Trust - SKY TRUST is all about helping talented Kenyan young entrepreneurs achieve their potential, by giving them economic empowerment through business seed funding.   Startup Kenya Youth Trust Creating Economic Opportunities Took as a minute to come up with the logo, but eventually it came to us, as in a video, as in a drama (smiles). While starting out, the twist to it, is SKY TRUST takes a more exciting and engaging approach as opposed to boring and rudimentary process, normally associated with charity activities (or not??). Either way expect to be intrigued by our daily growth and experiences.You will be kept on the loop of all the magnificent events/activities that will be unfolding. Of course you are also welcome to be engaging, as

The last post as Harry Since 2006 I have enjoyed your company and patronage as I put down my thoughts in black and white on this blog. I started this blog to share my experiences in entrepreneurship but I also ended up learning, making new friends and developing my own ideas on what I really wanted to do. For a long time I have known that the knowledge and experiences I have been fortunate enough to acquire must not be confined within me, but must be used to generate wealth, success, and fulfillment for others. Today I therefore wish to announce that I will be donating my blog and twitter handle to the charitable trust Startup Kenya Youth (SKY) Trust .  I look forward to continuing our engagement under the banner of SKY Trust. A bit about SKY Trust. SKY Trust was founded in 2013 by Harry Karanja. SKY Trust's goal is to act as a catalyst to entrepreneurship among people under the age of thirty Harry started his first business when he was fifteen, retailing bread and biscu

Since the presidential elections and its petition ended Kenyan's have gotten their politics fix from discussing possible appointees to the first cabinet under the new constitution. President Kenyatta and Deputy President Ruto have reportedly spent the better part of their first weeks after elections deep in consultation about who to appoint. Last week they gave us the first hint that their cabinet appointments would not be business as usual when they unveiled a government structure of eighteen (18) ministries which is four less than the constitutional maximum. This was a clue that they were more keen on delivering on their manifesto than rewarding of friends. Today they went further and gave us a good taste of things to come when they revealed their nominees for the ministries of: ICT, National Treasury, Health and Foreign Affairs.Have no doubt, it was no accident that these were the first nominees unveiled. It is clear that the digital duo consider these to be the most important

Like me, I'm sure you must have election fatigue by now. To be quite frank, I have sworn off local media until after I vote. I had also resolved not to publish any more election related posts, but then I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. The concept of objectivism fascinated me greatly and got me thinking about some of the policies being spewed by candidates for office. As a capitalist nay a compassionate one, I am wary of any politician promising redistribution of wealth. The begging culture (harambee) sadly is a national culture and it is important that we break this habit through our policies and politics. It is for this reason I have decided to share my endorsements for candidates for Nairobi county as this is where I get my bread and butter. We start with governor, a powerful new executive position. I will consider the three leading contenders: Kidero, Waititu, and Mbaru. Among the three Kidero gets my endorsement, yes he is haughty but he also has the best combination of s

The last few months in my toastmasters journey have been a whirlwind. Since December last year I have delivered four speeches and taken two roles. Of all these yesterday's speech was the most exhilarating. I spoke on a topic which I am deeply passionate ( EVA ) and its potential to generate wealth in rural areas. The speech was also special as it was delivered as part of the International Taped Speech Contest for Toastmasters. I was humbled that despite very worthy contestants also giving speeches the judges awarded my speech as the winning speech. Here is the full text of the speech below, titled Walk My Path. UPDATE : You can now see the video here or at the end of this post. Almost 60 years ago, my grandfather at the behest of British colonialists was forced out of his central province and found refuge as a miller in the Rift Valley town of Njoro. It took independence of our nation for him to find a chance to move his family back. 30 years ago, my father left a cushy gov