Exploring the growing fitness industry in Kenya. Kenya Entrepreneurs Look to Get Online. Growth of franchise mode of business in Kenya. Kenyan artist tackles unemployment though redesigning old shoes. Kenyan entrepreneur upcycles old clothes into functional bags. 21% of SMMEs in Kenya are licensed - report. Locals in Kenya boost dairy industry by producing cheese. PigiaMe new features opens doors for entrepreneurs in Kenya - Capital Business. PigiaMe.co.ke, one of Kenya’s leading quality classifieds website, has recently revealed a fresh new look and introduced innovative features to boost visibility and ensure listings stand out on its platform.
The classifieds website has added a robust safety and quality checking system that has instilled confidence in users. The technology behind the verification system is backed by a dedicated team that reviews listings posted on the website. PigiaMe has also taken a hard stand against fraud to keep scammers away. More sellers are now willing to take advantage of the new paid features to grow their sales further.
In addition, entrepreneurs can now set up an online shop on PigiaMe by subscribing to the new Business Account, which enables them to showcase their Business in the best light, provide additional information and to build trust with potential customers. By building deeper ties with its sellers, PigiaMe also aims to further improve the safety of online shopping. Sponsored. Ethiopia: 250,000 Condos to Be Built in 20/80 Housing Scheme. By Zelalem Girma The housing scheme has not only been providing affordable houses, but also creating millions of permanent and casual jobs which contributed to the national economy.
The Addis Ababa Housing Development Project Office announced that the city administration plans to build 250,000 condominium houses in the 20/80 housing scheme during the Second Growth and Transformation Plan period. It planned to build about 40,000 housing units each year in the GTP. Office Director General Haregot Alemu told the Ethiopian Herald Thursday that though it was planned to transfer 170,000 housing units to beneficiaries in the last GTP period, 39,000 housing units could not be transferred as work on infrastructural facilities has not been completed.
Currently, their construction has reached 92 percent and are expected to be handed over to beneficiaries this year, he added. According to him, most of those already registered will benefit from the housing program in the near future. Kenya: IFC Invests in Co-Op Bank to Support Entrepreneurs and Housing Finance in Kenya. Press release Washington — IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, announced today that it will provide a $105 million loan to the Co-operative Bank of Kenya (Co-op Bank) to support lending to small and medium businesses, women entrepreneurs and the housing sector.
The second largest bank in Kenya by total assets, Co-op Bank has 143 branches across the country and a subsidiary in South Sudan. Small and medium enterprises account for eighteen percent of the Bank's lending, or close to $386 million as of June 30, 2015. Start-up snapshot: Turning coconut waste into an energy source. Said Twahir Start-up: Kencoco Ltd Said Twahir is co-founder of Kencoco, a Kenya-based company that makes charcoal briquettes from recycled coconut waste and charcoal dust.
The briquettes are a low-cost alternative to environmentally damaging fuels such as firewood, kerosene and wood charcoal. Previously, Twahir ran a transport business and a computer college at the Kenyan coast. He tells How we made it in Africa about the opportunities in transforming agricultural waste into energy. Chase Bank launches SME Biz Hubs in Nairobi, Mombasa. Kenya’s Chase Bank has announced it has launched SME Biz Hubs in Nairobi and Mombasa, providing a physical setting for entrepreneurs to meet and obtain access to advisory services.
Chase Bank, which hopes to become the bank of choice for Kenyan small and medium enterprises (SMEs), says the SME Biz Hub is its way of promoting Kenyan entrepreneurs. The hubs – located at Hurlingham Branch, Nairobi and Moi Avenue Branch, Mombasa – will allow Chase Bank clients and non-clients to hold meetings, while offering financial and non-financial advisory services from dedicated relationship and portfolio managers. Internet access and meeting rooms are also available.
Life-Changing Mini-Marts in Northern Kenya This is a guest post by Kathleen Colson, founder and CEO of The BOMA Project, a partner of Segal Family Foundation.
On September 19, Ntiriswa Lesurkukwa rose at 5 a.m. to milk her camel and prepare a frugal breakfast--a mug of hot tea--for her husband and four young children. Then she walked 20 kilometers across the arid scrubland of Northern Kenya with her friend and business partner, Ntitoya Arbele. Entrepreneur explains why it is easier to be successful in Kenya than India. A few years ago Indian-born entrepreneur Sriram Bharatam travelled to Africa as part of a trade delegation seeking business opportunities.
The tour took them to Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. Sriram Bharatam Although he had (and still has) a thriving IT business in India making “a couple million dollars” a year, he decided to move to Kenya. The country appealed to him due to the popularity of mobile money platforms, relatively good internet connectivity and because the majority of the population is proficient in English. He extended his initial one week trip to nearly two months studying the business environment. Enterprise in Kenya: Small Business is a Big Dream. Crimea-born Sergey Maximishin grew up in the USSR and worked as a photographer with the Soviet Army.
He has worked as a photographer for over two decades and has won many awards since starting his career. Maximishin currently works for “Focus,” a German magazine. Across one square kilometer of Nairobi’s Gikomba district, more than 4,000 people work for 200 businesses that process scrap metal. Known as jua kali enterprises – the official term for people who work beneath the open sky (jua kali is Swahili for “scorching sun”) – these businesses turn empty oil barrels, construction waste, steel pipes, paint cans and other metal items into everything from pans and tools to life-size statues of animals. Most of the workers are from western Kenya. Recently, the jua kali industry has faced a shortage of raw materials. Q&A: A Kenyan Startup That Has Bikers' Back, Literally. Itnewsafrica.com What do you get when an electronics engineer, a certified accountant and an IT guru come together and decide to become social entrepreneurs?
CladLight. At least that holds true for the CladLight’s trio founders that comprise brothers Charles and Joseph Muchene and friend Michael Gathogo. CladLight is a social enterprise that addresses motorcyclists’ safety through a sustainable business model. Motorcycle accidents in Kenya have become prevalent to the point where major hospitals have annexed special wings for bike victims while riders have also earned the moniker “organ donors” due to the high mortality rates. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that there are between 3,000 and 13,000 accidents annually while Kenyan government figures indicated that the number is sandwiched between the aforementioned figures at 6,205 as at 2013. Fatalities are however high at 3,000 per year most of whom are pedestrians and motorcycle riders. CladLight: Well, they are pretty smart. Law graduate turns bananas into flour.
Kenya's new law to open the door to investors in micro, small - Business - www.theeastafrican.co.ke. Www.africareport.com - Color Creations, Kenya. Tabitha Karanja : Beer boss who took on drinks giant. Investment banker who turned to pizza - Magazines. Ritesh Doshi, CEO, Naked Pizza, Nairobi.
Photo/File In Summary Ritesh Doshi, CEO, Naked Pizza, Nairobi. Opportunities - KenInvest. Jay Bhalla tells the Kenya Open Data Story. Entrepreneur: Kamongo Waste Paper.