News South Asia

Returning Kenyans shake job market

Kenyans in Diaspora returning home to set shop buoyed by healthy business environment are opening up job markets to Kenyans in sectors like  real estate, hospitality and IT, with studies showing between 15 and 20 businesses are set up every month employing over 200 Kenyans monthly.
 
Data from the Ministry of Immigration show that over 14,000 Kenyans return home every month. While the economic recession in the West has led to massive job layoffs which is one of the reasons attributed to those who return, others prefer to bring back what they have learnt from overseas to develop their country.
 
“Its a trend that has largely been ignored but is emerging as a very important one that government should support in its entirety if we are to tackle unemployment,′ says Caleb Otieno one of the lead researchers from Oracle Light a company tracking Kenyan diaspora movement and investment in East Africa. Majority of these Kenyans are leaving plum jobs in their host countries as the promise of a new robust Kenya, thanks to the new constitution, entice them.
 
Sam Wanjohi is one such Kenyan. Having graduated with a first degree in Civil Engineering and a Masters in project Management from the prestigious Birmingham University UK, he managed to get a lucrative job as a civil engineer working with Hyder Consulting firm and later Arup, an engineering company in UK for three years.
 
But an inner desire to do things his way saw him quit formal employment and foray into the then competitive real estate market. He decided to involve himself in property renovations. “I would buy old property and those in need of renovation and then renovate them, while adding value to some like turning them into student housing and converting others into commercial properties,” he recalls.
 
But the economic recession of 2007 that hit UK and USA taking a toll on major economic sectors like real estate would see Wanjohi′s business take a dip forcing him to close shop. “But I had picked the love of fitted kitchens and I had made up my mind that when I came back to Kenya that is what I would come do,” he says.
 
So when he came back he started Foresight Interiors in 2007, first importing designer kitchens and fitting them for the clients. “But my travelling a lot and the many inconveniences in running my business especially when I was not there in person made me realize that there needed to be some conveniences in the business and that the business could still run even when I wasn’t in the office, and that is how I came up with dash2do.com,”he says.
 
Dash2do.com is the sister company to Foresight Interiors, and is an online company that is helping working Kenyans manage their tight working schedule by allowing them to place orders at the convenience of their desks. It has created groundbreaking online services like errand runners, private drivers, cash deliveries and phone tracking services.
 

With his two companies, Wanjohi has given more than 130 Kenyans a regular income and has now set his eyes on the global market. “It feels good when you create jobs and your see your staff build a brand that even you are proud of. That has never made me regret coming back home,” says Wanjohi.
 
Zawadi Nyong′o who has been in the US has now set up yoga classes in Hurlingham as she seeks to tap into the growing interest in the country.
 
She has been an avid yoga practitioner for over three years and is currently building an African yoga-inspired social enterprise - ZeroByZawadi.
 
“The enterprise is an expression of the things I am passionate about - Africa, social justice, environment, community, social media, yoga and wellness. We hope to make a difference to others as our tagline says ‘Every gift has a story.’ We use the blog zerobyzawadi.com to share these stories of transformation, power, resilience and inspiration”.
 
Their first product was the kanga yoga bag. She shared the idea with her cousin, now one of her two business partners, who encouraged her to go ahead. ZeroByZawadi has three parts to it; African yoga-inspired products, events, and production of eco-friendly packaging to promote recycling and upcycling.
 
Ms Nyong’o, started doing yoga in 2000 while attending college in the US, but when she made some drastic changes in her life three years ago, she started practicing it more seriously. She had just left her women’s rights job in Mexico City and was back home wondering what she would do next.
 
“I was stressed out, worrying about my future, and I knew I needed to do something for my mind, body and spirit. That is what yoga is about,” she said.
 
Naisiadet Mason returning to Kenya from abroad in 2010 and with a love for food was frustrated by incessant traffic jams in the city and busy work schedules, which made restaurants in the city a dream for lovers of good food.
 
When she met Tony Muchu Mbugua and shared her frustration, the idea to start a food delivery service was born. Subsequent research of the industry in the Nairobi revealed that apart from fast food outlets and a few restaurants which did their own deliveries, independent food delivery service providers were few and far between.
 
Ms Mason says she started this business to reach out to women and give them a convenient service to help them to keep up with their family and professional responsibilities.
The focus of Mama Meals is not junk food but rather healthier food. It aims to give options to its customers and deliver their orders faster.
 
The users of this service can order from any restaurant, and the riders from Mama Meals will deliver it to their preferred location. Due to use of motorbikes, delivery can be done in 45 minutes with or without traffic.
 
"We take the restaurant to the customer," says Ms Mason, who is also a public health consultant.
Kenyans in the Diaspora can also order food or flowers or shopping for their loved ones here in Kenya and Mama Meals will deliver to the recipients.
 
Within just a year, Mama Meals on Wheels has realised a good uptake of the service by both men and women. The company has now offered employment to tens of Kenyans as delivery guys.
 
“This will be a force to reckon with and in the next ten years returning Kenyans will be among the highest job creators in the market, starting small companies, the more reason why government should step up its commitment to creating a favourable environment for these businesses,”said Caleb