Comments on: Mama Mikes on You Tube

By: Noli Irritare Leones » Blog Archive » Totally non-Darfur-related African news and blogwatch

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:28:58 +0000

[...] A young Kenyan entrepreneur. [...]

By: Kenyanentrepreneur.com » Mama Mikes…..

Kenyanentrepreneur.com » Mama Mikes….. — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:44:05 +0000

[...] -line Kenyan marketplace called Mama mikes and I came across an article on Kenyanpundit.com where the founder, Segeni Ngethe is interviewed about his experiences of trying to set up an [...]

By: gate

gate — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 08:11:18 +0000

The ability to diversify investments is not one that is available to the ordinary kenyan. Sometimes its all about survival – and when no one will give you the extra push needed(read capital)…………..

By: Kenyan Pundit » Follow-Up on Mama Mikes post

Kenyan Pundit » Follow-Up on Mama Mikes post — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 07:10:10 +0000

[...] w up on the interesting comments around entrepreneurship in Kenya that were sparked by my post on Mama Mikes by “interviewing” the founder of the company – Segeni Ng’ethe. While r [...]

By: Nwabu

Nwabu — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:10:35 +0000

Great to see segeni doing well.

About the NSE and Nairobi property prices, I think on one level Kenya has quite a lot of international exposure compared to most African countries. Nairobi happens to be one of the better cities in that region and is a major hub for businessmen and tourists. Secondly, there is a lot of remittance money that is being channelled into hard, easily monitorable assets. Stock you can get in and out of. Property never goes down particularly in a place with almost perfect weather like Nairobi and a place that is a tourist magnet.

For SME’s capital is tough to come by everywhere in the world and the Kenyan economy is no different from many early-stage economies. But I think making these opportunities available to investors requires innovations that are not present on the ground from what I can see.

Lets not forget credit cards, junk bonds, venture capital are US innovations that people there created to value start-up and high-risk operations so we in Africa (I am Nigerian) have to come up with similar innovations that works for the lender and for the borrower at the same time.

In addition, we need to do more networking. Seriously! Being an entrepreneur requires major networking and again for those of you who have been in the US you should know the value of investment clubs, entrepreneurial clubs, business events, conferences for meeting potential partners, exchanging ideas and even getting potential investors who will lay down their money because they believe in your idea.

Do we have these kind of clubs in Kenya? Nigeria? Africa? Do we have these kind of conferences? If we don’t maybe a starting point is setting up these in Nairobi or wherever else so you can bring in entrepreneurs, financiers and people that want to setup their own businesses.

It might be the jumpstart that you need to get that capital to get your business moving or the people you need.

By: Billion Dollar KTs at Gathunuku

Billion Dollar KTs at Gathunuku — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:04:10 +0000

[...] te that is going on about the shortage of investment opportunities over at this post and this other one, I am of the opinion that investment professionals have their work cut out. There [...]

By: Rosita

Rosita — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:08:18 +0000

In regards to ’shortage of investment options’, I beg to differ. I would argue that the only obstancle is poor linkage and networking between entrepreneurs/viable business concepts and interested investors. In other words, people are not utilizing existing social networks to their full potential. We all know and love our personal networks be they family, school buddies, professional acquintances etc………….there is enormous possibility in circulating viable investment targets within these circles especially since there is already personal familiarity and intimacy between the potential entreprenuer and his targeted benefactor. Granted, perhaps we need a more formal and coherent system such as a SME/microentrepreneur association or trade body that coordinates and represents the interests of this sector…however in the meantime, we can work with what we have already.
I speak from experience, we (I and husband) were approached by some school buddies/old pals with a business proposition that we thought was very innovative and potentially lucrative……we invested/became part owners by leveraging the equity on our house. The rest is history…business is up and running….SHAMELESS PLUG AND SELF PROMOTION…www.atrams.com. In a nutshell, the originators of the idea were constrained by the usual hurdles faced by the SME……..little or no options for financing from the mainstream financial markets, intimidated by the many challenges of starting a business i.e. LACK OF CASH, INCURRING GREAT RISK, FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN etc.
Moral of the story, the small investor and the micro-entrepreneur are two ships passing in the night, this need not be the case if people were more agressive in sounding out each other.

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 19:17:02 +0000

Ntwiga,

I think what the article raises is nothing new. J. Schumpeter (that great economist) raised this issue but he used a different term “Creative Destruction” driven by entrepreneurs.

I think that’s what we need and I see it in lot of folks in our generation.

By: Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Kenya: Kenyan entrepreneur on YouTube

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:58:39 +0000

[...] Global Roundups Kenyan Pundit writes about a young Kenyan entrepreneur who is getting innovative with YouTube. Ndesanjo Macha « Malawi: lotter [...]

By: Ntwiga

Ntwiga — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 04:29:23 +0000

Great comment Ken.

Disruptive Innovation.

I can think of 3 of these right off the top of my head:

- mobile phones
- micro-banking which you mentioned
- matatus (yes, matatus)