The East Africa Business Podcast: African Start ups | Investing | Entrepreneurship | Interviews

This week's episode comes from Kibera, Kenya's biggest, and one of Africa's largest, informal settlements. Life is tough here, and many talk about the "slum mentality" where a lack of opportunities leads to drug abuse, crime and a general sense of despair. Julius Otieno is an inspiration for those in his neighbourhood. After dropping out of high school as his family could no longer pay his school fees he combined the talents of his mother (a tailor) and his father (a cobbler) to make colourful, hand-made shoes from discarded pieces of African fabric. The shoes are a hit, with both Kibera residents and expatriates (such as myself). Julius and I talk about his story, how the shoes are made, and the impact of the business in reducing environmental waste and providing meaningful employment to the Kibera youth. We also discuss Julius' trip to Paris, after he was selected by an ambassador to present at a trade show there. This involved Julius needing to get funding to get a passport in order to leave the country, let alone have his experience on a plane. For more information on the business, head to the show notes where you can find the Re-afric website, as well as a blog post I wrote several months ago about meeting Julius for the first time. You can also head to www.theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com where you can learn about opportunities to help companies like Julius', whether that be expertise or funding, should you so wish.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/12/19/from-rags-to-riches-re-afric-make-colourful-shoes-from-recycled-african-fabric-that-sell-worldwide

This week we're featuring what has to be one of my favourite business models to date. One of the dominant themes in East Africa is that individuals and businesses don't have the cash to afford products and services that would earn them more money, and make their lives better. To open up access to electricity, off-grid solar power systems are now commonplace, provided on a Pay As You Go basis. This model is being adopted in other markets too, such as cooking fuel, irrigation pumps and TVs. Where it becomes especially powerful is, in my opinion, if the financing can be for a revenue-generating asset. The new owner gets a top of the range piece of kit and is able to pay for it through the additional income they earn from it. This is what Ilara Health has done for medical diagnostics. Ilara Health takes the most advanced, modern equipment (often smartphone-based) that offer the same results and cost only a few thousand dollars, and then provide them to peri-urban medical clinics in Kenya who then pay back in installments. The result - routine ultrasound tests become available to a local population at an affordable rate, (rather than spending hours to travel to have one), medical clinics can grow their business, and Ilara Health has a sustainable business model.Emilian also has a number of top tips on starting any business in Africa which come from over 20 years of him running and investing in companies on the continent. I'd strongly recommend following him if you're interested in building ventures in the region. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/12/12/affordable-healthcare-for-the-masses-ilara-healths-sustainable-business-model-saves-lives

This week we're talking with two friends who have set up a business making socks in Kenya. Both Vidyesh and Bishell grew up in Nairobi to entrepreneurial families, and after education in the UK returned home to begin a business. They are also friends with Sumit, who featured in the board game cafe episode. Vidyesh and Bishell decided on socks, as they felt there was a gap in the market and that by starting with a relatively discrete market (school socks) they could grow the business. It's a very interesting conversation that goes through the practicalities of building a manufacturing company in Kenya. One of the challenges they state is, for example, the high cost of electricity, and its unreliability, but also the opportunities that come from getting a loyal customer base in an emerging economy.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/12/05/the-opportunities-and-challenges-of-making-affordable-socks-in-kenya

Do you know what the world's most expensive nut is? It's the macadamia nut. Similar in shape and colour to a chickpea, but up to twice the size, it's originally from Australia and is now grown in several tropical locations around the world. In Kenya, the first trees were grafted and planted in the 1970s with a few disparate growers and aggregators each individually trying to generate a market. Ten years ago Charles Muigai founded Nutpak an industry body for nut processors in Kenya. They deal with peanuts and cashews too, but the real business in macadamias where they represent Kenyan producers both at a national government level and internationally. Charles and I chat about all angles of how this industry is growing in Kenya including the minimum "farm gate" price set for macadamia farmers, the process by which they are packaged and ultimately exported, and lessons other burgeoning industries can take for their role on global stage.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/11/28/cracking-the-nut-industry-how-kenya-adopted-the-worlds-most-valuable-nut-with-charles-muigai

In this episode, I speak with Sabina Karumba about how she and her husband started Chia Africa.Most businesses have an interesting formation story, though this one is one of the best I've heard in a while.Sabina and her husband were watching TV one evening in 2012 when a doctor came on the show and explained the health benefits of chia seeds.Compelled to learn more they undertake research and a few months later are planting their own chia plants in Western Uganda.This is the first commercial plantation of chia seeds on the continent, and after going around with samples of what they grew they both quit their day jobs and go full time on the business.A few years later and they are the premier producer in the region, trying to keep up with demand despite other people entering the market too.Sabina and I talk about lots of interesting things such as how chia seeds should only be grown within 5 degrees of the equator, the genesis of becoming Africa's first chia seed producers (despite never having farmed), and keeping up with the demand for the superfood.One thing which Sabina downplays, but I thought was particularly impressive is her attitude to sales.Two of the biggest breaks for the company came with being listed by a major supermarket,  and then one of the region's largest distributors.In both cases, she just turned up unannounced at their offices, asked to see the owner and after sitting down with them, sold them on making big orders for Chia Africa in just one meeting.The reason I think is that Sabina is clearly incredibly passionate about the power of chia seeds, and believes everyone should have them in their diet.Her pitch is pretty simple: it has amazing health benefits that can change people's lives,  people just don't know about it yet, make sure you have some in stock.You can learn more about the health benefits, the company, as well as pictures of the chia plant which yields chia seeds (which I'll admit, I never knew what they looked like) by heading to the show notes for this episode at www.theeastafricabusinesspodcast.comREAD MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/11/21/chia-seed-investors-the-surprising-story-of-how-chia-seeds-came-to-be-grown-in-africa

In this episode, I catch up with Johannes, co-founder of Lynk.We initially spoke back in late 2016 along with his co-founder Adam. You can listen to the interview by searching for the episode on 'How Lynk is building a "TaskRabbit for Kenya"'.The company has continued to grow over the years, and this time we meet in the new Lynk house/ office. With a new round of funding secured their employee numbers are up to 45 and, well, they need a new place to house people.Johannes and I dig into how the business has grown and evolved over the past few years. The company began by offering services to individuals, and whilst this is still part of their platform, a much bigger side of the business that has grown is B2B.One of the things Lynk now it is effectively a construction company.They use their roster of workers to effectively and efficiently build factories, as well as do the interior design and facilities management. Regarding the individual services that are offered, such as beauticians, the model has also evolved into more of a micro-franchise. Practically this means that Lynk defines the services and how they should be delivered, and then give new workers on the platform a start-up loan to purchase the necessary materials and build their business on Lynk.READ MORE AT: https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/11/14/how-lynk-raised-1-3m-and-evolved-from-taskrabbit-for-kenya-to-micro-franchising-and-construction

In this catch-up episode, I chat with Caitlin who runs Flare.Caitlin and I first spoke in late 2016, and you can listen to the original interview by scrolling down to the episode named Ambulances.The premise then was that Flare would become a technology platform to connect people with ambulances much in the way that Uber has developed the model of hailing a driver through their app.Whilst the vision of providing world-class emergency dispatch services remains unchanged, the company has developed more of a human touch.As Caitlin and I discuss, a core offering they now have is a 24/7 dispatch hotline where trained medical professionals consult with callers before dispatching them to the appropriate provider.We also talk about other things that have come from running the business over the past three years.How they've been cautious to not scale too quickly, how large corporates are signing up to the Rescue.co service, and their considerations for international expansion.The interview takes place in the garden of the Flare house (you may notice a number of companies such as Lynk and SunCulture operate from residential homes) and so there may be some background noise, not least from Koko - the office dog who comes over halfway through.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/11/07/from-uber-to-call-centre-why-flare-decided-on-the-human-touch-for-emergency-dispatch-in-kenya

In this second episode from Zambia, I speak with an entrepreneur who has found his niche and is fully focused on it. Paul Nyambe grew up farming goats in rural Zambia. He and his family were unable to earn money from the animals which always struck Paul as frustrating.Years later he built a career in food sales, specifically ice cream, which meant had relationships with large supermarkets and restaurants.One noticeable thing missing from the menus and shelves was goat meat.In 2012, Paul quit his job and started Zamgoat.The vision is simple: to sell high-quality goat meat to the public.In our conversation, we talk through various parts of the business such as the profit margin on a goat, the barriers to entry for getting a goat in supermarket aisles, and the reasons why Paul is so positive that goat products are the next big thing for consumers around the world.We also chat about the potential for more value creation in goat products, such as making rugs from goat skins and various other products.If, on the off chance, you happen to know someone who'd be interested in advising Paul in this regard, please let me know via the contact form on the podcast website - www.theeastafricabusinesspodcast.comREAD MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/10/31/why-zamgoat-believes-goats-are-the-next-big-meat-in-zambia-and-the-world-with-paul-nyambe

The landlocked country is just south of Malawi, Tanzania and DRC, and has the great Zambezi river as it's border with Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.Economically there's a lot of copper and mining exports, and my sense is that the development of local services is most in line with Uganda or Tanzania, rather than Kenya (more developed) or Rwanda (less developed).In this episode, I speak with Greg, who runs a car hire company from the capital Lusaka.It started 10 years ago and now has operations across the country.I really enjoy hearing how businesses in the region adapt traditional business models to provide a superior service to existing alternatives.Yes, there's a lot of excitement in developing off-grid solar solutions using mobile money,  but there's also a lot of merit in running a business with professional service that an emerging economy is going to demand.In this case, good quality and reliable car rentals.Greg and I discuss the company's formation, how they modify their cars for Zambian roads (such as switching out the Japanese cold weather tyres), how their fleet is now over 500 cars through an innovative leasing programme, and how the payback on vehicles they purchase, is just 4-6 months.There's also lots of good advice from Greg about building a company organically and strategically thinking about where you can be valuable to clients.As always, you can head to www.theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com to learn more about the company featured.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/10/24/no-credit-card-to-drive-how-city-drive-hire-have-opened-up-the-zambian-car-hire-market

In this episode, I catch up with Audrey Cheng, the founder of Moringa School.We first did an interview in October of 2016, and so it had been over 2.5 years since we last spoke.The initial episode is called "Coding Schools", and so be sure to scroll back through the archives to give it a listen, if you're interested.Moringa School is still going strong, and now has a presence in Rwanda, as well as having taught over 1,500 students.The fundamentals remain the same - providing a relevant skill set to people entering the workforce in emerging markets - and we chat about how the company has evolved recently.This includes expansion into different fields from just coding (such as data science), greater outreach (such as programmes for low-income students), partnerships they've brokered with international agencies, and how they are at the stage of codifying their culture for the next phase of expansion.We did this interview in a hotel lobby and so at times, you might hear some background noise from other tables.I hope, however, that this doesn't detract from what is a very interesting interview from the founder of a company clearly on an upward trajectory.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/10/17/moringa-revisited-catching-up-with-audrey-cheng-on-the-coding-schools-international-expansion/

This week we're speaking with a big player in one of Kenya's largest industries: flower farming.Horticulture is one of the biggest sectors in the country's economy, and 60% of all the world's roses are grown in Kenya.This is for a number of reasons, which I discuss with Director of Sian Roses, Chris Kulei.Kenya has a number of natural features such as high altitude, and access to water which, along with low labour costs means they can produce roses for a tenth of the price of elsewhere such as Holland and Israel.Before our interview, Chris took me on a tour of their 45 hectare farm just out of Nairobi going from the initial grafting of new roses, through the various stages before being picked, packed and put on a pallet for export.You can see some pictures of this by heading to the show notes on www.theeastafricabusinesspodcast.comThe overarching concept with growing flowers is that it's a volume game.The global market, which is centered in Holland, is incredibly efficient and means margins for flowers are very thin, and millions of stems are traded every day.As such, companies like Sian Roses need big capex and efficiency savings to stay competitive. Indeed, they currently focus just on roses in order to maintain a high quality.We discuss the many players in the global supply chain, how very often they'll get to name a new rose, trends in the industry towards sustainability, and how Brexit is causing all kinds of confusion at the auction house.There's so much interesting stuff here I really hope you enjoy. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/10/10/how-brexit-is-affecting-kenyas-role-in-the-global-flower-market-with-chris-kulei-from-sian-roses/

In this episode I speak with Bilha Ndirangu who is the CEO of one of Africa's most successful tech start ups.Started in Kenya nearly 10 years ago, Africa's Talking now serves over 5000 customers and has operations in 18 African countries. Most of this growth has been self-generated, though last year they took on investment of around $10m to fuel the company's expansion.For those who have not worked in the tech space, an API (or Application Program Interface) is a way that software developers connect up different bits of technology.Without APIs things get tricky because if, for example, you want to build an app that sends an SMS to users you need to negotiate directly with the telco to allow them to send messages on your behalf.This comes with heaps of technical complexity (and sometimes regulation to conform to) which mean it's incredibly painful to do.Africa's Talking takes away all of that complexity by doing the hard work on behalf on developers.They go across Africa and complete of the headache stuff of integrating with telcos and banks, and then allow developers to seamlessly plug in so their apps/ businesses can easily begin accepting payments and sending SMSes.It's a great business model which gets better with the network effects of them expanding to more countries.In this episode Bilha and I talk about the company's formation, how it's changed upon its recent growth spurt, and how the bigger the company gets, the more it becomes defensible against outside competition.I really hope you enjoy this episode with Bilha.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/10/03/a-sexy-tech-success-story-how-africa's-talking-equips-african-software-developers-with-apis/

One of the nice things about having a podcast is that it allows you to have conversations with people you wouldn't otherwise get around to.In this episode I sit down with John, the man who I buy my eggs from in Kenya.In Swahili, "mayai" means "eggs" and so his customers know him as John Mayai.John works from an apartment building in Nairobi, and stores thousands of eggs in the car park to then sell to individuals and small businesses wanting to buy them in multiples of 30.We talk about how he started the business buying and selling 5 trays of eggs, and is now up to 80, how cold weather affects the price of eggs, and the main challenges that come from expanding the business.Now, the big limiting factor John mentioned was the ability to buy more eggs and transport them back to the car park to then sell to local businesses. "There's always demand for eggs" as John put it, so it's just a case of increasing the supply.Immediately after recording this episode I went for lunch my friend Raaj and we got chatting about how we could help out John to expand his business.Long story short, the next day we were in a car with him driving up to a large egg market on the outskirts of Nairobi, returning a few hours later with nearly 5000 eggs. I made some recordings from the trip, and so who knows, perhaps one day it'll get made into an episode.Anyway for now, there's lots of interesting insights from John and I's conversation and so I hope you enjoy this episode.John's business is representative of how a lot of people in Kenya work and live - buying and selling products and at a low margin in order to fund other areas of their life, such as school fees for the children.I hope you find it enlightening.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/09/26/how-many-eggs-can-you-fit-in-an-uber-overcoming-micro-business-challenges-with-john-a-nairobi-egg-dealer/

Near to where I live in Nairobi is a Japanese cafe.Whenever I've been the food has been delicious, and the small place is full of people from Japan, enjoying Ramen bowls and cold imported beer.I thought it would be interesting to interview the owner to learn about how the business started.It turns out that the owner Wangari and her husband have cornered down a niche market in the city.Both were born and raised in Kenya, independently decided to learn Japanese as kids and ended up getting married after a mutual friend introduced them so they could connect on the shared love for JapanToday they run a diverse portfolio of businesses to serve Japanese consumers in Kenya.In the interview we discuss how their businesses came to be, the interplay of owning a safari company, supermarket, cafe and farm all geared towards the Japanese market, and practicalities of, for example, selling Bento boxes in Nairobi.It's a really interesting example of finding a business area that's aligned with your personal interests and skill set, and then occupying that niche to very high standard.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/09/19/how-a-kenyan-couple-captured-the-japanese-market-in-kenya-with-wangari-wachira/

If you think about brands that different countries have, most people probably have two strong associations for Kenya.Safari and running.The safari industry is well established, with innumerate tour companies able to take you on your dream holiday seeing the Big Five.Running, however, is an industry which is much less developed.In fact, until Enda, there were no running shoes made in arguably the home of running!As we discuss in this episode, Nava, the co-founder of Enda Sportswear wanted a way to promote sports in her country and settled on building shoes as the biggest impact way to do so.In the process, Enda has become a vehicle for promoting local industry, with all of the assembly taking place in Kenya, and many parts, such as shoelaces, being produced in the region too.Nava and I talk about all sides of the business, including where and how the shoes are currently sold, the global (ahem) footprint that the brand has, and the practicalities of setting up production of high-end footwear in East Africa.The Enda offices are in the same place as a number of artist workshops. We're doing the interview outside, and so there may be a bit of background noise from people moving stuff, as well as some chickens who wandered over at some point.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/09/12/why-did-the-home-of-running-not-make-running-shoes-nava-the-co-founder-of-enda-running-explains-their-story/

If you've been following The East Africa Business Podcast for a while, you might notice that most episodes are around the 30-40 minute mark.Whilst that was the intention here, in this episode Samir and I end up chatting for well over an hour.The reason being is that (to me at least) there's just so much interesting stuff to talk about the business he's running.Sunculture exists to improve productivity amongst smallholder farmers, and does so through a variety of services including solar irrigation pumps and financing all run on a state-of-the-art software platform.We talk about how and why the company was formed, why Samir believes that, unlike the US, there will always be smallholder farmers in this part of the world, and how Sunculture's dream team operates, in part motivated by Samir's monthly emoji email.A big part of the Sunculture thesis on development is aligned with the discussion I had with Conrad Whitaker. To learn more, search for the episode on the Distributed Economy.We do the interview in the garden of the lovely Sunculture offices and so there may some background noises (including a nearby scuffle between a dog and monkey) which I hope doesn't detract from what is a really fun and information packed episode.We sometimes go a bit off-piste, including how Samir is hoping to one day reach out to the Ohio band that share Sun Culture's name. We sample one of their tracks at the end of the episode, if you're interested.READ MORE AT: https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/09/05/fortune-at-the-bottom-of-the-pyramid,-how-and-why-sunculture-can-profitably-service-smallholder-farmers-at-scale/

There are certain business models or concepts which seem to be universally popular.One big one recently has been creating a public space where friends can meet up for some food and drinks and play board games.In this episode I speak with Sumit Dodhia who a few years ago had the realisation that Kenya was missing such an institution, and so, along with 5 friends, decided he would start one.Two years later and Bao Box is a great success.There are over 100 board games on offer, and the business can attract custom throughout the day, compared to other places which are concentrated solely on after work and evenings.We talk about the costs and practicalities of getting the cafe set up, how they source their games from "board game dealers" operating in Kenya, and how his staff are paid to play board games in their downtime, as many never grew up playing them.It's a really interesting episode that, to me at least, highlights how different types of businesses can survive and thrive in this part of the world.READ MORE AT: https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/08/29/east-africas-first-board-game-cafe-and-why-most-kenyans-dont-know-how-to-play-with-sumit-dodhia-from-bao-box/

We've got a very interesting interview this week, one that brings together using modern technology with a compelling market need.It's all about electric vehicles.Now, you've probably heard about Tesla and some other companies building cars that don't run on petrol.It turns out that, for now at least, these vehicles don't work in the East Africa context.Opibus is a Swedish company founded by a group of engineers looking at how to get more electric cars on the road.One route is the Tesla approach of building an electric car from scratch. The approach of Opibus is to take existing vehicles, rip out the petrol engine, and put in an electric engine instead.What that leaves you with is a much quicker and more flexible way to get electric cars being driven in different conditions.Interestingly, despite being a Swedish company, other than a few prototypes the company's operations have been almost entirely in Kenya.Several factors, such as the presence of lions and elephants, have made it the ideal place for the company to start.Mikael, the head of the commercial side of the business, and I discuss this, and all manner of things in this episode which I hope will leave you feeling positive on the role and room for innovation in the region.READ MORE AT: https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2019/08/22/move-over-tesla,-opibus-has-a-better-way-to-get-electric-vehicles-on-african-roads,-with-mikael-gange/

Gaming is something that a lot of people may not consider as a business industry. I, for one, know or rather knew very little about it, though this interview with Nathan Masyuko from Ludique Works was one of the most insightful interviews I've ever had. We speak about the international, multi-billion dollar business in video games and Africa's place in it It turns out that South Korea is the mecca for gaming, and that individual players are earning hundreds of thousands of dollars from playing video games. How? Well, the key has been to transform video games as a sport. For sports to get popular it can't just appeal to the players, it needs to be turned into a spectator sport. This is the part which, as someone who has never watched another person play a video game as a form of entertainment, I found the critical piece to unlock how the industry is put together. Nathan and I also discuss the current state of the East Africa gaming community, the kinship between other nations building games, and Ludique Works vision for building the ecosystem. The simple message is that the industry in Africa has made it once creatives have the financial backing to focus on making and marketing games. There's tons of interesting content in this interview, including links to Nathan's best recommendations on African games to play. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/10/11/video-games-africa-prepares-for-the-bn-gaming-market-with-nathan-masyuko-from-ludique-works/

An interesting heuristic you can think about when considering companies operating in East Africa is where the demand comes from. There are lots of businesses you can see where the product or service is developed in the region and ultimately is consumed in East Africa. Through the lens of this podcast, just look to some recent episodes on Tissue Paper, Bottled Water Franchises, and Surveys. Whilst there is certainly a strategy in serving the growing local market, there is certainly a limitation on its size. There's a whole different set of companies, operating from East Africa but whose end customer is outside the region. Caspar Coding is one of them. They work with European clients to place East African senior software developers directly in their teams. It's one area where there's a huge imbalance. In Western Europe alone there are 5 million openings for senior software developer jobs and lacks the supply of local talent to fill them. Caspar started off solving this with developers working remotely but now relocate ambitious developers directly to the European country. Sebastiaan, the CEO, is Dutch and so the early clients have been from there. This is a really great episode that touches on various themes in the region, such as demographics, finding product-market fit, and ultimately the power of gaining a modern skillset to grow your career. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/10/04/software-developers-relocating-top-african-talent-into-european-tech-teams-with-sebastiaan-tan-from-caspar-coding/

This is an episode which I really hope you stick with. As you'll have seen from some of the other episodes, I find that often the “unsexy” aspects of doing business in East Africa are the most interesting and important. Financial modelling is not necessarily top of most people's lists to think about, however, in this episode, Sean Keough puts forward a pretty compelling argument why you should. Sean has worked in Ethiopia for many years and has been building up businesses in the country which haven't previously existed. He began with advising other companies on their growth and found that it was difficult to forecast what the impact would be of different business decisions. Entrepreneurs knew the ins and outs of their business, but couldn't run through scenarios of how external factors affect their business, and as such were running blind, and also not having the rigour to attract foreign investment. Long story short, Sean has now written a book which takes entrepreneurs through how to model their business. It's available on Amazon by searching for the somewhat cryptic title of “Financial Modelling in Developing Countries”. You'll also find a link in the podcast description: Financial Modelling for Developing Countries The interview also allows us to speak more about the nuance of doing business in Ethiopia, one which is fundamentally different to others in East Africa owing to its closed economy legacy. There are tons of insights here around the different dimensions of working in Ethiopia, as well as the life aspect of running a business in the region. For more episodes from Ethiopia search for Ride Hailing and Takeaways in the archives, but now, it's my great pleasure to introduce Sean Keough. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/09/27/financial-modelling-entrepreneur-and-author-sean-keough-explains-its-importance-in-developing-countries/

In this episode I speak with Jonathan Rosenthal, the Africa Editor of The Economist. Our paths crossed when I was back in London for a few weeks, and so we took the opportunity to meet, and speak about some of the continent wide trends which he's seeing, from the vantage point of running the Africa desk for the magazine. Most episodes you'll have listened to on the show will delve into a particular aspect of running a company in East Africa. Teasing out the specifics of why a certain business decision has been made or not, or trends that are present within a particular industry niche. This episode is slightly different. Jonathan and I take a much broader look at Africa's development through the lens of, say, government debt ratios and currency reserves. Whilst this might seem a bit lofty, I'd encourage you to stick with it. In listening to the other episodes you will (I hope) get an understanding of the micro level of business in the region. To get a fuller picture requires, I believe, to understand the larger macro factors at play in the story of development. One such example of this is the government policy of raising debt from local banks.  Because the interest rates they offer are so high, it distorts the incentives for banks to lend to local businesses. As such, this macro level effect of “crowding out” the private sector trickles down to the suppressionof local businesses looking for capital to grow. There are also references to the macro trends that can come from the innovation of rooftop solar systems. If you'd like to learn more on this, be sure to check out the Distributed Economy episode with Conrad Whitaker from Azuri Technologies. The interview took place at The Economist HQ in London which, helpfully, has a recording studio of its own. If you're interested in hearing more from The Economist, be sure to check out their regular podcasts which feature updates, insights and in-depth interviews that expand on their stories. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/09/20/the-economist-how-east-africas-development-compares-with-the-rest-of-the-continent-with-jonathan-rosenthal-africa-editor-of-the-economist/

Some of the biggest and most visible players in any country are the supermarkets. They employ thousands of people, have a wide geographic presence and interact with many aspects of the economy through supply chains and products sold. Tuskys is one of the biggest in Kenya, and East Africa, and in this episode I interview Daniel Githua the CEO. The interview was pencilled in to take 30 minutes, but there ended up being so much interesting stuff that we continued recording, meaning it's one of the longer episodes on the show to date. I think part of the reason was the depth of insights that Daniel had, and the frankness with which he spoke about both opportunities and current downsides in running the business. Some highlights from the interview include: the macro trends in formalising the retail sector in Kenya and how reaching new towns transforms the local economy, the biggest opportunities he sees for retail products across different categories, and how the market may change in the coming years, with the introduction of large international retailers like Carrefour and Shoprite If you're interested in other interviews about food and retail, look to episodes on Cooked Beans, Invoice Financing and especially on Coconuts which talks a lot about the struggles manufacturers have with payment terms when selling to supermarkets, something Daniel recognised that the retail industry has to address. At times there might be a bit of shuffling, and sips of tea (the Tuskys staff were very accommodating) and so please excuse and slurps or shuffles which exist at the beginning – or at least when the tea was still hot. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/09/13/supermarkets-formalising-retail-in-east-africa-with-daniel-githua-of-tuskys/

Manufacturing is one of the major value drivers in an economy. In this episode, I speak with Darshan Chandaria, Group CEO of Chandaria Industries, the company founded by his grandfather in the late 1940s and which has now diversified into other areas. The core business is hygiene products: recycling waste paper and turning it into tissue and other products. This episode is slightly longer than usual, mainly because there just seemed to be so much to talk about. This includes the set up of their fully integrated operation, the thought process of building a new factory, hiring strategies across the group and Darshan's management strategy for leading the team. Essentially: find people on the same wavelength and leave them to it. There are also other tidbits of information in there around designing detachable roofs in the new factory, the comparatively high cost of transporting goods, as well as Darshan's strategy for building his Instagram following. The interview took place at Chandaria HQ which is a working factory and so at times there might be some background noise of trucks moving around. I'm sure you'll agree though that it adds to the effect. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/09/06/tissue-paper-expanding-one-of-east-africas-top-manufacturing-groups-with-darshan-chandaria-of-chandaria-industries/

Housing in Africa is a huge problem. Every year millions more people arrive in cities and are forced to stay in informal settlements. Developers struggles to keep up, and walking around Nairobi at least, you'll rarely be far from a construction site building another high rise. What I didn't realise though, was how the current approach of building with bricks and mortar is actually quite inefficient. There's a limit on how much you can build each day (four stones high) and a whole series of other considerations which means that the supply of housing is actually constrained by the bricks and mortar approach. In this episode I speak with Mburu who runs Cemex Holdings, a company that produces a new form of building material, essentially panels of reinforced steel mesh. Before conducting the interview in Mburu's office upstairs I had a tour of the factory and a the show home they made next door. Maybe I was missing something, but the argument to switch seemed pretty compelling. On most fronts it seemed to be a superior offering to stone building, the main barrier being people's willingness to go with something outside of the status quo. I won't spoil things too much, but I found this a fascinating business for showing how to introduce a new technology into a market, as well as learning more about the dynamics of the construction industry which I know next to nothing about. Mburu is a biochemist by training from University of Texas, passionate about building Kenya. The vision is how to offer dignified housing to all Kenyans. The technology they are using for the panels (EPS: expanded polystyrene) is over 40 years old. There are 60 plants around the world, and 17 in Africa. It allows for rapid installation of housing materials, cutting construction time by 50%. The core business as a materials supplier. But also need to vertically integrate, with this being a new market. The big thing is to train contractors in using the Cemex system. There are various trade offs involved. The major consideration is the time taken to build a structure. With stone you can only do 1 metre per day. By using a whole panel you do 3 metres per day. Being a new technology in Kenya they are going through the diffusion of innovation. There is a unique housing problem in Africa. There are not enough houses in Africa. A big thing is to try and move people away from the idea that stone is the only route they can do. Kenyans are price sensitive, so the numbers have to work. Which they do. There are cost savings in: less materials (reinforcing foundations), time, finances Interest rates are high in Kenya (13.5% base) and so being able to realise revenue quicker cuts the overall costs. In going to the market, they've never had a rejection once engaging with a developer. The vision of the company fits the government's Big Four agenda (ensuring food security, affordable housing, manufacturing and affordable healthcare). Several other companies have begun using this technology in Kenya. Though they are the only one with a partnership from the Italian originators Emmedue. It's a certified green building technology. Reduced environmental impact compared to quarrying stone. Transportation is much lighter too: 1 lorry of EPS is the same size of finished product as 7 lorries of stone. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/08/30/walls-how-a-new-technology-building-material-will-transform-kenyan-housing-with-mburu-karanja/

A lot of the interviews on The East Africa Business Podcast have been related to individual companies telling their stories, and the lessons they've learned. In this episode, you'll no doubt come away with a lot of insight, though the dynamic is slightly different. I'm speaking with Chaning, who is the co-founder of the Busara Center, a behavioural economics lab based in East Africa. Their roots are in academia, though they have now branched out to applying the insights they generate to other organisations. We also have an interesting conversation around grants, and how Busara will typically work with clients to write grant applications to unlock funding. In this episode Chaning and I discuss the multitude of problems which the lab have solved, similarities and differences in how people around the world act in certain situations, and how they have scaled to become an organisation of 150 employees operating in multiple countries. Towards the end Chaning also references a pharmacies business that “sits downstairs”. Nairobi is a small city and he was referencing a company called Maisha Meds. You can listen to that interview that I had with Jess, the CEO by searching for the Medicine podcast in the archives. As always would be very interested to hear any feedback you have on the podcast, but for now, here is Chaning. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/08/23/behavioural-economics-applying-decision-making-insights-to-development-with-chaning-jang-from-busara-center/

In this episode I speak with Brian Axelrad and Nicholas Java: investors at Beyond Capital. They are a special type of investor, which is the topic of our discussion. Beyond Capital operates as an impact investor, an interesting player in the East Africa business space. Like traditional investment, impact investment is fundamentally a vehicle for injecting money into ventures, the difference lies in that the success of the investment is measured not just in financial terms, but also for social good. As we discuss, this can be a tricky concept to define – but the broad sense is that these investments will accept a trade off on pure financial return on investment, in exchange for promoting pre-defined societal objectives. For Beyond Capital they invest in businesses that address the lack of access to basic goods. We go through how they whittle down opportunities in their pipeline, the challenges of reporting on impact and, where they see the greatest opportunity for impact in the social entrepreneur space. With this episode there are also lots of links and reports that we mention, and so be sure to check out the show notes for more information about both Beyond Capital and impact investment in general. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/08/16/impact-investing-beyond-capitals-perspective-with-brian-axelrad-and-nicholas-java/

OverviewSo it's been a few months since we last released episode and we're back soon with some more interviews on the bustling business scene in East Africa. We have a number of episodes that you can look forward to. I'll give you a short preview of the ones to come and also a bit of housekeeping. We're starting on Thursday 16th August 2018 with Impact InvestingThe view from Beyond Capital, and impact fund, on what they look for when putting in money for social good in the region Behavioural economicsInsights that come from the Busara Center on applying behavioural practices to solve challenges in East Africa. Lots of interesting, and often counter-intuitive insights in that one We've then got a few big players in the Kenyan economy. I noticed that there has been a slight bias in previous series around focusing on the “growth start up”. Entrepreneurs who have spotted a gap in the market, and are early on their journey. But with this series we've got some more… bricks and mortar businesses going on: Tissue PaperChandaria Industries. So I have a great interview with Darshan Chandaria who is third generation of the family business. They're one of the biggest manufacturing companies in the region (making tissue paper) and now a host of other activities. He is personally an investor on the TV show Lion's Den which is the Kenya equivalent of Shark Tank in the US and Dragons Den in the UK. Interestingly in Rwanda it's called Face the Gorillas, I guess because they are they are a formidable creature in the country. And, I had to Google it, it turns out that in most other countries it's called Dragons Den. I was hoping there'd be lots of Tiger references in South East Asia, but that's just Japan where the show is called Money Tigers. Sri Lanka probably has the most interesting version which is called Wall of Tuskers, in reference, one would guess to elephants being the most unnerving creature on the island. SupermarketsTuskys is one of the biggest retail chains in Kenya, and by virtue, East Africa. I think this might be one of my favourite interviews to date. It's certainly the longest, which I guess is a proxy for how much interesting stuff there was to cover. But again, we're talking with the CEO of a large bricks and mortar business, employing thousands people across the region. The insights and perspectives that you get is different five people with their laptops coding up a solution to a problem they see WallsAnd then to continue the bricks and mortar analogy we have an interview with Mburu Karanja who runs Cemex. They are, ironically, in the business of disrupting the literal bricks and mortar industry. There's a technology developed in Italy which is an alternative to making walls with stones, instead making panels from steel mesh, concrete and polystyrene. From what he says it's superior on almost every measure to building stone structures and seems like it could be a really promising part of the nation building aspect of East Africa. The EconomistAlso whilst I am based most of the year in Kenya, I was back in London over the summer and took the opportunity to meet with Jonathan Rosenthal who is the Africa Editor of The Economist magazine, who sponsored earlier episodes on the show. This was quite fun, as I got to go into The Economist office, in the radio booth that they use for their own podcasts, and also see the magazine in the making, as well as have an interview about a lower case economist's view of Africa. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/08/12/season-three-preview/

It's widely acknowledged that one of the biggest prohibitions to the development of East Africa is lack of capital. The global economy is premised on aggregating savings in, say, pension funds and then deploying it to areas where it will earn a return. This investment is what generates economic activity – stimulating business growth and creating jobs. It also generates a return for those running, say, the pension fund to disperse to their members. Traditionally this large scale movement of money has happened only in developed markets. Developed markets are structured in a way that allows finance professionals to calculate the riskiness of an investment, and therefore feel comfortable parting with their capital with an expectation it will be paid back. Traditionally, the methodology for deciding whether to invest big pools of money in Africa has been done using the same framework as for developed markets. This hasn't bode well. In short the techniques for deciding how much money to invest have meant that only small amounts could be safely deployed. Lendable have taken a different approach. They are a technology enabled debt platform created to help non banking lenders scale. They use in-house software tools and algorithms to analyze loans and offer facilities that make sense for lenders based on their loan books. It might sound simple, but this approach of a buying a loan book, rather than looking at the assets that a company has, is a paradigm shift towards creditworthiness and has meant the company has beenable to unlock millions of dollars of capital that, using the old frameworks, wouldn't have been deployed. Now, I appreciate that might all sound a bit technical and advanced but Daniel, Lendable's CEO and I go into the details of how this works – as well as tales along the way of running their business through two Kenyan elections, and what it takes to attract US Hedge Funds to invest in Africa. This is, for me at least, a great episode around how large scale impact can be achieved through facilitating the transfer of wealth from the developed to developing world.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/04/12/big-data-lending-unlocking-commercial-capital-for-africa-with-daniel-goldfarb-from-lendable/

Most people have somewhat underwhelming memories of school lunches. Bland, uninteresting food which likely compelled you to go off at break time to the local shop and eat sugary doughnuts, a chocolate bar and a bag crisps. Or chips, for our American listeners. This dynamic is somewhat similar in the Ruira county of Kenya, just outside the capital Nairobi. The difference though, is that the option of meals at school is non-existant. READ MORE AT: https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/04/05/school-lunches-nutritious-meals-for-hungry-kids-with-wawira-njiru-from-food-4-education/

One of the upsides of the internet is the ability to collect and store information that was previously only passed down between generations, or spread by word of mouth. One of its downside though, is that it's a very big place, and trying to find relevant information can be a thankless task in a world where we're all short on time. Of all the information that's out there, Mums Village is looking to organise it for a discrete set of people Mums in Kenya. Isis, the founder of Mums Village, and I discuss the platform she has built. READ MORE AT: https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/03/29/mums-creating-an-online-parenting-platform-with-isis-nyongo-from-mumsvillage/

This is an episode I've been wanting to do for a long long time. One of the things I've found bewildering working in the region is the frequency with which the females I know change their hair style. From month to month it can change drastically and, dare I say it, unrecognisably. On occasion I have momentarily re-introduced myself to new colleagues on account of a completely different hairstyle changing their appearance. Anyway, this episode is all about hair. Luxury hair to be specific which, as you'll find out means it comes from the real hair of other humans. It's honestly one of the most fascinating interviews and businesses on the podcast so far. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/03/22/human-hair-big-money-in-african-wigs-and-weaves-with-gisela-van-houcke-from-zuri-lux-hair/

This is a slightly different episode of The East Africa Business Podcast where  we'll be covering a thesis around development. When you consider how countries and societies have spurred economic growth it has all happened through urbanization. Streams of people moving from rural livelihoods to populate cities where they would find a better life and more opportunities. Underpinning all this was energy. Opportunities and wealth are a function of economic productivity and in order to produce more, power is needed to run, say, factories. Historically this has been generated centrally, in a power station and sent out via the grid. This has favoured a society built around these central sources of power and hence led to the rise and growth of cities. Azuri Technologies, however believes that this same path does not need to be taken in Africa READ MORE AT: https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/03/15/distributed-economy-an-alternative-development-thesis-with-conrad-whitaker-from-azuri-technologies/

There are certain products which, let's face it, are more embarrassing to purchase than others. You don't think twice about buying a pint of milk, however things such as contraceptives, or sanitary items make you a bit more self-conscious, especially if you're an awkward teenage girl. Kasha an enterprise in Rwanda, started by solving the very discrete problem around girls accessing to affordable, quality sanitary items which can cause long-standing societal issues, such as school drop-out, if not solved. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/03/08/womens-health-e-commerce-delivering-female-products-across-east-africa-with-joanna-bichsel-from-kasha/

Pharmacies are found in almost every community in East Africa, however the way in which they are currently operating leaves a lot of room for improvement The business is largely run from pen, paper and phone meaning shop owners don't have the visibility on how everything is run. Beyond this though, there is a huge potential to drive change in the medical space through formalising the way in which medicine is delivered across the region. In this episode Jess Vernon, CEO of Maisha Meds and I discuss how her technology company is using data to improve how local pharmacies are run and their ambitions to transform the broader industry. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/03/01/medicine-enabling-a-modern-day-pharmacy-in-africa-with-jessica-vernon-from-maisha-meds/

In many parts of the world, ordering a taxi from your smartphone is the new norm. Until July 2016 though, this was not possible in the country of Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country. There are several nuances about Ethiopia which made it difficult, and it was only once Habtamu returned to his home country after several years away that the capital Addis Ababa now has this service. It's worth saying that Ethiopia is distinctly different from the other countries featured so far on this podcast. The ruling government runs a relatively closed economy, and there are strict regulations on anything involving interaction with the international business community. In this interview, Habtamu and I discuss just this, and some of the workarounds that he has had to develop in order to operate in Ethiopia. We cover how people have debit cards, but can only use them to withdraw cash, national company ownership for particular industries, and also how unlike other countries that Uber and the like work in, it's illegal for private drivers to earn money giving rides. There's lots in this episode around doing business in a difficult place, and the strategies to overcome it, and so beyond just leaning about Ethiopia, I have no doubt you'll get a lot from it. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/22/ride-hailing-building-a-localised-version-of-uber-in-ethiopia-with-habtamu-tadesse-of-zayride/

When running an e-commerce company in most parts of the world, there are certain things you can take for granted. Namely that your customers can get on the internet in order to use your service. In Ethiopia, this isn't always the case. The country regularly has power outtages meaning the population are without electricity and businesses are forced to adapt. Even when the lights are off though, people want food, and part of the reason that Deliver Addis is still in business is that they have had the creativity and tenacity to overcome such issues. Feleg and I discuss how they created offline procedures for his online company, attracting investors in a nascent climate, and the steps they take to onboard restaurants to their platform. It's a great insight into business in Ethiopia, and so I hope you enjoy. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/15/takeaways-running-a-food-ecommerce-platform-when-the-power-goes-out-with-feleg-tsegaye-of-deliver-addis/

This week we've got an excellent episode which looks at applying breakthrough technology, to frontier markets. You've probably heard of Bitcoin and blockchain, and here Elizabeth Rossiello CEO and founder of Bitpesa and I discuss how this technology can help African businesses grow through improving how they make international payments. Why? Well in mature markets there's a lot of liquidity between different currencies, meaning if you wanted to trade between Euros to Dollars to Pounds, the fact there's lots of people trading it means you can get a good price. However, when you are looking to trade African currencies, there's not so much activity meaning companies are getting caught with high high prices to move money around the world, such as paying suppliers. Bitpesa has stepped in to provide financial remittance services for anyone wanting to buy or sell African currencies, with Bitcoin and digital currencies acting behind the scenes to smoothen the process. Just a heads up that this interview took place over an internet call which is different to the in person episodes done to date, and also that Elizabeth will be speaking at The Economist's Innovation Summit in Nairobi, and so be sure to check that out if you're interested in learning more. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/08/bitpesa-blockchain-enabled-international-payments-with-elizabeth-rossiello/

Many international studies have pointed to the lack of SME financing as being a huge blocker to a country's development. In the context of Kenya, many small business owners are excluded from the formal financial sector due to the high operational costs involved with opening and running a bank account. As a result, they have no formal credit history and are not able to get a loan. Pezesha are seeking to overcome this by giving the unbanked, their first step on the formal financial ladder. Hilda, the founder and CEO, and I dig into the difficulties of getting a bank account (and by extension, a loan), how Kenya's ubiquitous mobile money network facilitates their business, and how they are layering on their data analytics to the dynamics of the existing social investing culture in Kenya. This is one of those episodes that can leave you scratching your head at times, but nevertheless shows the huge potential for technology and financing to transform a region. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/01/p2p-lending-revolutionising-access-to-credit-in-africa-with-hilda-moraa-from-pezesha/

Understanding your customers is an incredibly important aspect of any forward-thinking business. In many developed markets there are reams of public data available to understand demographics, as well as established market insight companies who give a perspective on consumer tastes. In Kenya, however, this was difficult. mSurvey was borne from a PhD student's frustration at not being able to get such insights, and five years on the company is one of the region's flagship start up success stories. In this episode Sam Kamande, who is mSurvey's Head of Data, and I discuss the many applications of their technology platform, how the fact that African consumers are very comfortable communicating via text message is good for their business, and the vision for utilising the big data they collect to give a holistic view on the African consumer. This is a cracking episode, full of tid bits of information on the East African economy, doing business and generally the real impact of applying technology to an area that has been historically overlooked. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/01/25/surveys-leveraging-big-data-from-mobile-money-with-sam-kamande-from-msurvey/

OverviewSo… after a few months away The East Africa Business Podcast is coming back, with more interviews from entrepreneurs and business leaders on the ground in this exciting part of the world. On Thursday we'll be going live with an interview with Sam Kamande, Head of Data at mSurvey. A company leveraging technology and big data to help businesses improve their customer experience. It's a great episode, and we even get onto the topic of wearing mascara. After that we'll have the usual assortment of in depth interviews from diverse industries, including a few from Ethiopia, which is a fascinating place when it comes to business. We'll learn how challenging it is to implement business models common in other parts of the world, namely ride hailing (i.e. Uber) and restaurant delivery (i.e. Deliveroo), and importantly the strategies entrepreneurs there are taking to overcome. As one of them said, “if we can make it in Ethiopia, we can make it anywhere in Africa” Staying updatedIn terms of some housekeeping there are a few things to update you on. Firstly, we now have a Facebook page, and so if you'd like to get updates of episodes, and learn more about the guests and their companies, please do Like and Follow the page. You can find it by searching for: The East Africa Business Podcast On there we'll also be resharing episodes from the archives, and so it'll be a good way to keep an eye out on an interesting topic or business that you may wish to learn more from. Also, if you are listening to this update after hearing previous episodes, then it would be fantastic if you could leave a review of the show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. It'll help others like you find the show, and generally, I'd just appreciate it. So, I'll leave it at that for now. Keep an eye out for a new episode hitting your podcast inbox on Thursday 25th January, and look forward to speaking to you then.READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/01/21/season-two-preview/

OverviewWe've got a slightly different format for this episode – it's a recording of a talk that I gave on a recent trip back to London. It was held at a co-working space (@huckletree) to an audience of people interested in learning more about the business scene in East Africa. We have a bit an intro and overview of the main industries in the region before delving into a few other topics which haven't really been covered so far on the podcast Some thoughts around how technology in the region is being adopted quicker, leapfrogging the developed worldHow the education system means it can be difficult to hire in East AfricaAnd a discussion around the implications of Brexit and the Trump election on the region About half way through we get to Q & As which, in my opinion is the best bit as we get to cover some more contextual questions of the business scene. Some of the questions might be a bit tricky to pick up, but you should be able to work out what's going on from the resulting discussion. In any case, this is a slightly longer episode than you might be used to, but with the diversity of topics we cover, I hope you find it useful. If you have any thoughts, questions or comments, just drop me a message on Twitter @Sam_Floy or by email podcast@samfloy.comREAD MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2017/08/23/special-silicon-savannah-business-lessons-from-east-africa-talk/

OverviewThis is a little episode to update you on what's going to be happening with The East Africa Business Podcast. The short version is that the podcast is going on hold for a while as I focus on growing my own business in the East Africa region. I'll explain the context, which should hopefully make a bit more sense. In any case, the podcast will likely be back in the not-too-distant future and in the meantime we can all have a bit of a breather. How the podcast startedAs background I found myself starting this podcast as means to meet entrepreneurs in East Africa. I was interested in learning about the business scene and found that requests to “meet for a coffee to learn about your business” were quite understandably rebuffed with “I'm just too busy running my company” Therefore I thought about ways in which I could equal the exchange and still have that conversation. Almost all of the companies I was looking to talk to were looking for exposure and to generally increase their brand awareness and it turned out to be relatively straightforward to create a set up where I could record a conversation about their business and soon have it appear on iTunes. It turns out that an opportunity to showcase your company to an international audience is a much more attractive proposition than going a coffee with a random guy from Britain. What now?Now however my schedule has begun to fill up a bit. When I started out on my “Try Before You Buy Tour” around the region I essentially gave myself 4 months to understand as much as I could about the business scene in East Africa with a view moving out permanently and starting my own thing. I started by taking a flight to Rwanda and, using savings from my previous start up job in London, I could devote substantial amounts of time to absorb the business environment. After undertaking a “Big Think” in Zanzibar I decided Kenya was where I wanted to move full-time and begun making plans to undertake the transition to Nairobi. Now that I'm here, this, naturally, involves finding a way to live sustainably. I undertook work at a start up in Nairobi and began consulting with other organisations as a means to pay the rent. What spare time I do have goes towards validating the shortlist of business ideas I'm considering, and then putting effort into getting them off the ground. As such, with the podcast not bringing in direct revenue, it's something to be put on the shelf for the time being. It's something I've thoroughly enjoyed to date and so will be certain to pick it up again as soon as conditions permit. Look in the archiveAnyway, I'm sure that's more than enough about me For you, the listener, there are many excellent episodes within the archive for you to go back and enjoy if you're interested in learning more about business in East Africa. If you've not subscribed already, just search for The East Africa Business Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or any of the other podcast apps and scroll through the forty plus episodes that are there. All have their nuggets of brilliance and so I'd recommend finding a title which piques your interest and giving it a listen. Nevertheless, I will now highlight some of my favourites for you to try out first: READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2017/06/07/season-one-conclusion/

The demography in East Africa dictates that tens of millions of people will be entering the job market in the coming years There is not only a challenge of creating jobs, but also guiding individuals on a path of what they want to do. People typically lack the career counselling framework from, say, their families, especially for roles such as “digital marketing manager”. Jussi is building Fuzu – a platform to guide people through their careers. We discuss growing a company with a base in both Finland and Kenya,how Fuzu categorises their type of job seeker and the challenges of bringing a disruptive business model to a traditional market. Jussi also has probably the best rationale I've heard around the role of “for profit” and “not-for-profit” organisations in solving large scale social problems in developing markets, something I've always struggled to grapple with myself. It comes in at around 12 minutes. For now though, I hope you enjoy the episode. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2017/05/31/career-development-building-an-individualised-employability-platform-with-jussi-hinkkanen-from-fuzu/

When you consider different ways of getting information, you might think of going on Google or reading a book But how to do this in an environment with no libraries, computers, let alone internet access? Farmers in the field have limited means to get information and We Farm are looking to help by providing a Peer to Peer platform for farmers to send SMS questions and answers to each other. Kenny, the CEO, and I discuss the process – of pairing these questions and answers, why he thinks people are altruistically contributing to the platform and the most common question that they get asked by farmers… At times the audio is a little bit iffy, but we've done our best to edit things to what is hopefully an acceptable level, if you want some more information head to samfloy.com / podcast for the show notes. For now though, hope I you enjoy this episode with Kenny from We Farm READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2017/05/24/sms-farming-building-an-agricultural-social-network-without-the-internet-with-kenny-from-we-farm/

The main way that students learn how to pass an exam is by reading from a textbook. Traditionally, this has been built on the premise of publishers printing physical copies,distributing to schools and taking cash payments. This all comes at a cost, which is prohibitively high for a lot of schoolchildren in East Africa. Tonee and I spend this episode discussing Kytabu. They've turned the model on its head by digitising the content of these publishers, and allowing students and teachersto access what they want, when they want it,renting chapters from a book at a few US cents per day, paid for with mobile money We also discuss how a lot of Kytabu's employees are still at university, other trends that Tonee sees in the East African EdTech space and how a different interpretation of doughnut can completely undermine attempts from abroad to distribute educational content It's a great example of using scalable technology to disrupt an industry, and so I hope you enjoy READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2017/05/17/ebook-renting-bringing-innovation-to-textbooks-in-kenya-with-tonee-ndungu-from-kytabu/

One of the growing international product categories is goods made from coconuts. The health, and taste, benefits of coconut oil and coconut milk have caused a rise in demand for these types of product In Kenya, hundreds of thousands of coconuts are grown each year, and yet were not processed into these high value goods. In this episode I talk with Sakina from Kentaste, Kenya's first coconut good producer. We discuss the process of making coconut products from their coastal factory, knocking on doors at supermarkets to get listed and then paid and how to use coconut oil with your dog As a consumer of Kentaste products, which is part of why I wanted to go and interview them, I can also say that it's really good stuff. In any case, I hope you enjoy this packed interview with Sakina about all things coconuts READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2017/05/10/coconuts-kenyas-first-local-producer-of-coconut-goods-with-sakina-from-kentaste/

One of the recurring themes throughout conversations with agriculture companies is the problems with post harvest loss If produce can't be kept cold then it will perish quicker and as a result farmers lose out on income Cold storage (essentially a big fridge) offers the solution, but in an environment with inconsistent power supply, and poor access to capital, this has proved difficult. In this episode Luke and I talk about how Inspira Farms are using technology to solve this problem. We discuss how the technology they've developed is innovating the market, the compelling financial arrangement they are able to offer farmers and how selling in Kenya is different to doing so in Rwanda I found this a really interesting conversation to cover the landscape of agriculture in East Africa, and so I hope you enjoy it too. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2017/05/03/cold-storage-units-selling-modular-fridges-to-reduce-post-harvest-loss-with-luke-davey-from-inspira-farms/

Most business is about matching demand with supply. From her work as a Venture Capitalist talking to businesses about what would help them grow, Audrey found that resoundingly the answer was “tech talent”. Investigating the options available to students wanting to learn these skills, she found they were sub par. Moringa School is addressing the need by providing world class education in how to build apps at an affordable cost. We discuss the innovative teaching methodologies that they adopt, ways of breaching the skills gap in Kenya, and prospects for taking these vocational based higher education alternatives across the continent and into different skills. Our interview was on the balcony outside of their office and so it gets a little windy at times, but either way, I hope you enjoy. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2017/04/26/coding-schools-a-world-class-higher-education-alternative-in-kenya-with-audrey-cheng-from-moringa-school/

Smallholder farmers are the majority of the East African population, but there are many issues that they face. Rose, who founded Agrinfo, is using ICT to help. Identifying some key problems for Tanzanian farmers she and her team are looking to improve the agriculture sector by utilising modern technology. We discuss the low number of farmers with legal right to their land, the process for mapping Tanzania and the benefits that come by knowing what is planted where. There's a bird tweeting outside the window at the beginning of the episode, and so apologies if you find that distracting. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2017/04/19/rural-mapping-bringing-technology-to-the-tanzanian-agriculture-sector-with-rose-funja-from-agrinfo/

Humans are good at a lot of business functions, but one where animals have got us beaten is at sniffing things out. Rats have the best sense of smell of all mammals and can detect landmines and turburculosis to a much higher accuracy and in a fraction of the time of the best detection technology that humans can manage. Apopo trains rats from birth and then sets them out to do the job of detecting things which humans struggle at. Georgies and I discuss the applications of Apopo rats, the school program that they go through and how it's easier to train the Giant African Rat rather than a dog. This one is a lot of fun and so I hope you enjoy. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2017/04/12/rats-training-rodents-for-humanitarian-purposes-with-georgies-mgode-from-apopo/