Cecil Chikezie, at 22 has done what most people aspire to: begin and run a successful business.
A third-year mechanical engineering student, he has already gained recognition for his enterprise, bagging the Ksh 1.2 million Anzisha Prize 2019 for Africa's top young entrepreneurs.
Chikezie is the proud founder of Eco Makaa, which is an e-commerce company that supplies local fuel briquettes to customers.
Speaking to CNBC on February 26, 2020, the young entrepreneur explained how the business works. He provided that they make briquettes from available farm waste that can be used for cooking.
For Chikezie, the preferred raw material for this is maize cobs. These are processed in a kiln and then mixed with soil and water to make the briquettes.
“Our raw material is currently maize cobs which is what is available in our area. We mix this with binders, compact then dry them to produce the briquettes.”
The company sells 1kg of these at Ksh 30 with their main clients being hotels as they slowly edge their way into the household markets.
“Our main market has been within the hospitality industry and we've grown by having five hotels get their supplies from us. For household we've just started to supplying the 8kg packets, we sell at ksh30. Currently we've made a profit of upwards of one million shillings and we continue creating job opportunities for our youth.”
Chikezie started Eco Makaa in 2018 after the government banned logging for charcoal in the country. These forced vendors to import the commodity which raised the price of a kilo from Ksh 30 to Ksh 70.
Chikezie decided to make the briquettes as a way to provide affordable and sustainable alternatives to charcoal. The advantages of the briquettes to charcoal, aside from affordability, is that they burn longer and without smoke.
The biggest challenge the young entrepreneur faces is covering the transport costs. This forces them to hire pick up tracks to ferry the briquettes whenever there's an order.
To solve this problem, Chikezie has created a chain of partners who he trains to produce the briquettes to specified standards.
This has devolved the transport so that clients, who mainly order online, access briquettes made at a location near them.
Since the company started, it has sold about ten-tonnes of the eco-friendly briquettes and Chikezie believes they have saved 75 trees that would have otherwise been cut down to produce charcoal.
The founder expresses that his aim is to make an impact even as he guards profits.
“I believe that you have to focus on people. If you are able to reach out to people and make money while doing it, I believe you get some kind of fulfillment. Imagine impacting the whole world and still getting your money, it's an experience you can't equate to any amount.”
