Despite high unemployment rates in the country, a section of the young Kenyan population has embraced the entrepreneurial journey and created award-winning products.
Some of the products are inspired by their entrepreneurs personal experiences. Some innovators are driven by the desire to provide a lasting solution to the masses. More often than not, entrepreneurs who put in the work to ensure their ideas are implemented reap the results and in some cases end up winning global awards and accolades.
Kenyans.co.ke has compiled a list of five entrepreneurs who stood out and their award-winning products.
Charlot Magayi
Magayi of Mukuru Clean Stoves was the winner of the 2022, Earthshot Prize competition for her life-changing product.
Her invention, the stove, is inspired by where she grew up, the slums of Mukuru Kwa Njenga, where she sold charcoal for fuel.
Growing up in such an environment, she realised that the locals developed regular respiratory infections due to the charcoal.
Her product uses processed biomass made from charcoal, wood, and sugarcane which is cleaner than other types of fuel.
“Mukuru Clean Stoves began as a solution to a problem that I had felt personally in my own life. Today, we have an opportunity to transform the lives of millions, with cheaper, safer, and more sustainable cookstoves and fuels," she stated after winning the prize.
Over 200,000 people use Mukuru Clean Stoves, which saves low-income earners both money and time. A stove goes for about Ksh1,400 (USD10).
Richard Turere
At the tender age of 12, Turere had to face the danger of encountering lions while looking after the family cattle.
He soon realised that the light from his flashlight always turned away the animal. This gave him the idea to keep the lions away for good.
Turere started Lion Lights to make LED light bulbs for his community and others with similar problems. His products are being used in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia, Argentina, and India.
In 2023, he was named the winner of the Young Inventors Prize and won Ksh3 million.
Nzambi Matee
Matee is the founder of Gjenge Makers. She is a trained mechanical engineer and environmentalist.
The entrepreneur makes lightweight, and low-cost building blocks (bricks) made from recycled plastic and uses sand.
Bricks made by Gjenge Makers are stronger than concrete material and are friendlier to the environment. By recycling plastic, Matee is reducing the plastic pollution that has defaced most of the cities in the country.
In 2020, Matee was named the Young Champion of the Earth Africa by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Her products have been used in various sections of the Nairobi Central Business District's driveways, footpaths, and sidewalks. Matee looks forward to collaborating with larger organisaton to increase production.
Mutethia Mbaabu
Mbaabu popularly known as Tesh sells a different product to Kenyans and others across the border. Through his organisation MarketForce, Mbaabu enables over 200,000 individuals to source, order and pay for inventory.
The Business to Business commerce platform was inspired by Facebook in 2008. Tesh saw that the platform was offering a lot of solutions to the users and he sought to replicate it for Africa.
MarketForce has over 300 employees and serves markets in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Nigeria.
In 2023, he was among the 30 entrepreneurs listed in the 30 under 30 Forbes Africa list.
Margaret Nyamumbo
Nyamumbo made headlines in 2023 after wowing Shark Tank show judges with her coffee and subsequently won Ksh44 million in funding.
She grew up in Kenya in a coffee-growing community that inspired Kahawa1893, her coffee brand.
“I grew up on my grandfather’s coffee farm in Kenya. We are very proud of the coffee that grows on our soil; unfortunately, farmers don’t always make enough for the delicious coffee that they produce," she told the judges.
Her coffee has gained popularity in the US where she opened a shop.
Nyamumbo is an inspiration to young girls and entrepreneurs across the world with great ideas.
