Margaret Wairimu and Anthony Bishop are among few Kenyans who run successful businesses in Qatar.
Wairimu works as a document engineer in a construction company while Anthony run a restaurant in Doha.
Here is their story as told by WoK.
Background
Wairimu moved to Qatar in 2016 after securing a receptionist-cum-secretary job in a Kenyan recruitment agency.
She was forced to relocate to the Middle East country where she worked for nearly two years before resigning.
In an interview with Citizen Digital, Wairimu noted that she resigned due to low pay among other contributing factors.
After resigning from the job, she returned to Kenya for two months and worked on a new work visa before going back to Qatar.
“With the work visa, a company gives you the visa but they give you the freedom to work elsewhere, you don’t have to work with them. It makes you more flexible and it allows you to change jobs,” Wairimu said.
Wairimu secured the work visa and flew back to Qatar and rented a small room to stay while looking for a job.
She later landed a job as a document controller with a construction company, and she has worked with them since 2018.
Anthony Bishop
Anthony Bishop is the proprietor of Jikoni Restaurant in Doha.
The businessman relocated to Qatar and set up his restaurant business due to lack of job opportunities in Kenya.
Upon his arrival in the Gulf country, Anthony worked at an airport for a while before he was promoted to a senior role in a different department.
He later left the company that he was working with and started hustling on his own.
Anthony later interacted with his Pakistani friend who owned a restaurant but he had no clients, and they decided to partner.
“He invited me to his restaurant and while I was there, I noticed that he had no customers and I suggested we try making Kenyan foods
“He was hesitant but I suggested we for a trial, at the same time, I used social media to market the restaurant and after the first trial, the restaurant was full,” he said.
He worked with the Pakistani man for a while and moved to another restaurant before finally partnering with a friend to start Jikoni Restaurant.
