Kenya is a dynamic and exciting place to be a woman entrepreneur right now. It has become a centre for innovation and entrepreneurship; it’s a world leader in mobile money systems like m-pesa; it has a long tradition of highly creative brand builders producing world class solutions, designs and products that the world is falling in love with. It also has a strong entrepreneurial spirit that is deeply rooted, and it is women entrepreneurs who are taking that spirit to a whole new level.Here are inspirational women entrepreneurs in the country whose startup stories we have featured on Lionesses of Africa over the past year. We celebrate them all, and look forward to showcasing more of these inspirational and talented women brand builders over the months and years to come.
Tabitha Karanja is founder and CEO of Keroche Breweries. She is one of Kenya’s leading entrepreneurs, a remarkable trailblazer and an example of a woman made good against all the odds. Tabitha chose to venture where none before her had dared. She took on an 87-year-old business monopoly and entered an industry with a deeply entrenched male gender stereotype. Tabitha broke the mould to become Kenya’s first home-grown beer and alcoholic drink manufacturer. Today, her company’s state-of-the-art production facility is targeting 20% of the Kenyan market. For her enormous contribution in liberalizing the liqour market in Kenya, Tabitha was honored by President Mwai Kibaki in 2010 with a most significant Kenyan accolade – the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (M.B.S.) Award.
Dr. Jennifer Riria is the Group CEO of Kenya Women Holding and one of Africa’s leading women entrepreneurs who has always been on a mission to transform the lives of women and their families in her native Kenya. She is distinguished as a microfinance banker and practitioner, researcher and gender specialist. She has served in many leadership roles for which she has been recognized locally and internationally. In 2013 she was awarded the Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the year for East Africa, and subsequently, the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2014, at which point she was admitted to EY’s Global Hall of Fame. Kenya Women Holding is a microfinance, banking and insurance group that works with over 900,000 women, employs 2,800 people and since inception has disbursed $1.3bn of loans, each one averaging less than $600. It is Kenya’s largest micro-finance provider working together with many leading civil rights organizations. Kenya Women Holding also coordinates the Tuvuke Initiative for a Peaceful and Fair Electoral Process, which works to prevent violence and create a safer, healthier environment for Kenyan democracy.
Njeri Rionge is passionate about growing businesses and igniting potential, and believes in Africa as the next economic frontier. With over 26 years of leadership and change-management experience, she has worked throughout her career within companies and also as an external management consultant, scaling businesses for corporate and start up initiatives both in Kenya and internationally. She uses her entrepreneurial skill set to ignite passion to deliver organizational development and deliver bottom line results, and has a track record that demonstrates effective leadership in high-growth start-ups and corporate turnaround scenarios. Today, she splits her time between strategy consulting, speaking engagements, and investment work, either personally or through one of her portfolio businesses. Over 16 years ago, she co-founded East Africa’s first mass market oriented ISP, Wananchi Online which made Internet connectivity affordable for the average household for the first time. With her business partner, she grew the business from a typical start-up to become the largest ISP in East Africa, with a network of five regional offices, and a recognized brand in a particularly challenging regulatory and economic environment.
Dorcas Muthoni is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Openworld Ltd, a specialist computer software company she established in Kenya when she was just 24 years old. Today, Openworld is a leading e-Government and business software services firm involved in the delivery of some of the most widely used Web and Cloud applications in Africa, such as ARIS, an African Union reporting application used by all 54 member states; and the Performance Management System for the Government of Kenya, automating performance contracting in the public sector. Dorcas is passionate about using technology to positively transform African society through the lives of its ordinary people, businesses and governments and is a co-founder of the regional organization LinuxChix Africa. She also serves as a Director at Ushahidi; is a Member of the council of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa – FOSSFA. Through her day to day work as an entrepreneur and Computer Scientist, Dorcas seeks to see technology positively transforming the lives of the African society, governments and enterprises. In 2012 Dorcas was inducted by the Internet Society into the Internet Hall of Fame.
Lorna Rutto is a Kenyan eco-preneur, and the inspiring founder of EcoPost, a social enterprise created in response to the need to find alternative waste management solutions to Kenya’s huge plastic waste problem. In 2009 she founded her company, which collects plastic waste and manufactures commercially viable, highly durable, and importantly environmentally friendly fencing posts, used widely across Kenya. In 2011, Lorna was recognised by the prestigious Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards as their laureate for sub-Saharan Africa. Lorna has not only provided Kenya with a commercial alternative to timber, but has in the process created over 300 jobs, generated much needed revenues, saved over 250 acres of forests and taken over 1 million kilogrammes of plastic waste out of the environment. Her efforts have won her numerous plaudits and awards, both at home and abroad.
Juliana Rotich is a technologist, strategic advisor, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker. She is Executive Director of BRCK.org, a not for profit affiliate of BRCK Inc. for deploying reliable technology for the edges of society, and advocating for internet access and literacy. She drives partnerships for tackling social problems through connectivity and appropriate technology. She is a Venture Partner in Africa Technology Ventures (ATV) which is raising a $50m fund to invest in and support the growth of tech enabled start-ups in key sectors in East and West Africa. Juliana serves as an advisor to the councils of BASF, Microsoft 4Afrika, Risk Cooperative, Waabeh Ltd. and the Lemelson Foundation. She is also a trustee of the iHub in Kenya and Bankinter Foundation for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Spain. Juliana co-founded Ushahidi Inc., a non-profit tech company, born in Africa, which specializes in developing free and open source software for changing how information flows in the world. She was Executive Director from Jan 2011 toSeptember 2015, strategically spearheading Ushahidi to be translated into over 30 languages, over 90,000 deployments and a 20 million populations reach. She is fascinated by technology ecosystems globally and works to support entrepreneurs to scale their work and impact.
Diana Opoti, founder of leading Kenyan fashion consultancy, Diana Opoti PR, is a true champion of the continent’s fashion design market and one of Africa’s most formidable fashion connectors. Her company, Diana Opoti PR is based in Nairobi, Kenya, and focuses on brand strategy, publicity and campaign development and management for emerging fashion brands in Kenya, as well as for fashion brands looking to enter the country. The company’s services include a lot more than traditional publicity. One day it is doing product reviews for brands, another it is facilitating a production for a fashion campaign, and the next day could be recruiting on behalf of a fashion brand. Diana found a vacuum in the industry and founded Diana Opoti PR to fill the gap, and today it’s a constantly evolving journey for her and the amazingteam she has built around her.
Keyara Organics is a natural skincare company with a soul and a real passion for African ingredients, inspired by Africa and it’s wealth of natural oils and scents of the continent. Founder and serial entrepreneur, Terryanne Chebet, has a vision to grow the company to be among the world’s leading Natural Skincare brands, understanding that everyone needs a natural skincare routine. Terryanne originally started the company after looking for natural skincare brands for her daughter, which were rare to find and not consistent on the shelves. She then saw a gap for a market that is keen on achieving beautiful skin the natural way, and developed a brand and products that are natural and safe to use. Her brand philosophy is based on her passion for Africa and the need to grow a brand and skincare product range that will change how the world looks at Africa, beautifully.
Judith Owigar is a visionary Kenyan tech-preneur on a mission to upskill generations of women who use technology to develop innovations and solutions for Africa, and has the energy to match. She is the co-founder of Akirachix – a real gamechanger for women innovators in Africa. AkiraChix is a non profit which gives women technology and entrepreneurial skills, empowering them technologically and financially, and enabling them to serve and lead their communities.
If there is one word that could best describe PR entrepreneur, Damaris Nyabuti, the founder of Dharkemmy Corporate Communications in Nairobi, Kenya, it is tenacious. Despite all the challenges that have faced her throughout her career, she has remained true to her passion for PR and communications and been determined to realise her vision of starting her own company. She is a force to be reckoned with and understands the power of sheer hard work to make things happen. Dharkemmy Corporate Communications Ltd is a privately owned limited company with operations in Kenya. The company was incorporated in 2014 as a communications services company and expanded into providing specialised communications services to great companies across Kenya, Africa and the globe at large. Since its inception, Dharkemmy Corporate Communications Ltd has managed successful communications and strategic brand positioning transactions in various industries. Damaris is an MBA Alumni of the Universita’ Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore Altis Graduate School of Business and Society in Milan, Italy. Learn more about this programme at www.e4impact.org.
One of the biggest challenges for many women entrepreneurs is finding new business opportunities. One women-led startup, Tenders Kenya, founded by Helen Njoroge, is looking to make a difference by connecting women entrepreneurs with new business opportunities by providing access to the tender environment in the country. Her companyadvertises all procurement opportunities in Kenya online through its website and social media sites. With many procurement systems online, Tenders Kenya offers a digital, cost effective and efficient channel where all entrepreneurs, and more so the youth in Kenya, can access all procurement opportunities, and not only government but also private sector opportunities.
Lucy Kapkirwok is a Kenyan woman socialpreneur who is providing an innovative, low-cost solution to menstrual management in poor communities. SANPAD is a sanitary pad-pant business, an innovative low cost initiative aimed at manufacturing affordable and accessible sanitary pads cum pants to address the needs of women and girls in resource poor settings. It aims at improving the access of women and girls to safe and hygienic menstrual management practices and simultaneously addressing women’s reproductive health needs. The pad-pant is a disposable, convenient two in one product that will be useful for women and girls in diverse development contexts. Unlike ordinary pants, the pad-pant is a one-time disposable product that does not require washing or re-use. It is safe and convenient and adds value.
The challenge of water scarcity and improving access to clean, safe drinking water in Africa is one that entrepreneur Ruth Mwanzia understood only too well growing up in Kenya. That experience was the inspiration behind her company, Koola Waters, a business venture which manufactures and distributes pure water to the country’s citizens. What Inspired her was her background, growing up in Kitui County, a region in Kenya that experiences a semi arid climate. Due to the nature of the climate, there were challenges related to water scarcity and shortages. So, her company was born out of the challenges she experienced as she grew up and she wanted to address those challenges that her community was facing.
The growing market and need in Africa for an authentic, affordable and high quality make-up brand created specifically for African women, inspired Kenyan entrepreneur, Suzie Wokabi, to launch a new trailblazing cosmetics brand, Suzie Beauty Ltd. The result is a world-class product range that understands the needs of today’s African women who want bespoke make-up products that work perfectly on African women’s skin-tones and creates a stunningly beautiful look. SuzieBeauty is Kenya’s first homegrown make-up brand. They create and sell products, they do make-up artistry services, as well as training for professional make-up artists.
Kenya is a country renowned for its agriculture and the quality of its produce, but for many small-holder farmers, the challenge is improving both yields and livelihoods. For Evylin Munyi and her co-founder at KOFAR Kenya Ltd, the solution was to create a business that would help farms to repair the soil using organic materials to boost crops and farm efficiency. KOFAR supplies farmers, especially small-holder farmers, with Organic and Natural inputs to use on their farms so as to restore the soil back to health from overuse and abuse from conventional inputs. The farmers use the products and within 1 month to 3 months the results are clear that their soils needed to be applied with the Organic inputs. The inputs are applied for all crops but the application rates are different.