Over the last few years, Jajemelo Pizza has emerged as one of Kenya’s fastest-growing local pizza brands.

The fast-food franchise is owned by Dr. Berry Odhiambo (Dr. Berry O.), who also serves as the Chief Executive Officer, while James Omondi serves as the general manager.

Jajemelo Pizza specializes in making and selling pizzas. The name Jajemelo means ‘That of Great Sweetness’, a Jambolo original name.

Branches

Jajemelo Pizzas is headquartered at Alpha House, which is based in the heart of Kisumu CBD. Aside from Kisumu, the company also has many other branches countrywide.

These include Business Square Bay Mall in Nairobi, Mega City Mall in Kisumu, West Side Mall in Nakuru, Mombasa Mall in Mombasa, and Mega Mall in Kakamega.

Other branches in Nairobi include Kamakis, Githurai, and Thindigua.

Since its establishment, the fast-food chain has slowly been turning the tables in a field that has historically been dominated by foreign companies like Domino’s, Gallitos, Pizza Inn, among others.

Jajemelo offers various service options such as dine-in, delivery, and takeaway. Many of the franchise’s branches provide options for casual lunch, dinner, solo dining, and event catering.

Many customers flock to Jajemelo because of the restaurant’s provision of free street parking for additional convenience.

Opening 17^th branch

In 2024, Jajemelo Pizza opened its 17^th outlet in Kisumu.

During the ceremony, the company’s sales and Communication manager, Flavian Bridgit, stated that the company’s success was due to its ability to take advantage of existing market gaps.

According to her, Jajemelo’s management realized that there was a gap that left out farmers from the supply chain of the lucrative market of fast food franchises in Kisumu and other major towns in Kenya.

She stated that although Kenya’s farmers do what is expected of them and produce enough, most of the farm produce goes to waste.

She added that most of the foreign fast food companies adhere to the strict standards that require their raw materials to be imported from outside the country.

This situation forced Jajemelo’s management to establish a franchise that would easily cater for local farmers who are producing quality produce but find it challenging to adhere to the international threshold that has been set up by other foreign companies.

Bridgit added that a sense of community social responsibility also prompted the management to open the franchise.

“When you go into some of these foreign fast food joints, you’ll find our generation Z dotting the tables, enjoying their meals, but how much is ploughed back into society?” she queried.

Sponsoring students

Currently, Jajemelo sponsors over 1500 students across various secondary schools and institutions of higher learning across Kenya.

Bridgit advised Kenyan farmers to organize themselves and form saccos that will enable them to have a higher market share, especially because they can pool together a large volume of farm produce as opposed to going it alone.

Jajemelo restaurants, which operate every day from 8.00 am to 10.00 pm, are considered family-friendly.

They accept various payment options, including debit cards and NFC mobile money payments.

Aside from Jajemelo, Kisumu is home to several other popular Pizza Houses.

These include Winner’s Pizza, which is located at Hass Petrol Station and has been operating for more than 15 years.

Mimi Plaza is another popular pizza franchise in Kisumu, located at Mega Plaza, Ground Floor, Oginga Odinga Street.

The Dodhia family, who own Thika Cloth Mills Limited (TCM), have greatly impacted Kenya’s manufacturing sector.

They have spent nearly seven decades building one of Kenya’s few surviving integrated textile manufacturers.

Today, the family is best represented by Tejal Dodhia, the Managing Director of Thika Cloth Mills.

Speaking to Citizen TV’s Claire Munene on She Means Business, Dodhia explained that Thika Cloth Mills has been in operation since 1958.

The factory was built by Mahendra Khimasia and his brothers.

Most textile factories established in the 60s and 70s were doing well until the 1990s, when many of them began to crumble under the influx of cheap mitumba imports.

Dodhia recalled reading headlines about factories such as Mounttex, Kikomi and Rivertex, which had faced serious difficulties.

Other factories in Thika, including UTI, Bukko, Kicparu and KTM, also fell by the wayside. “I was 21, 22. At that age, you’re idealistic, and you expect things to not be this way,” she said.

Dodhia’s interest in running the factory began when she landed in Kenya from the UK.

In 2011, her father, one of the factory’s co-founders, passed away, and she was left with the responsibility of keeping the factory operational and ensuring that the livelihood of the workers was not affected.

She approached the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and sought meetings with various government leaders, including then Minister of Agriculture William Ruto and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

These leaders were promoting the Buy Kenya Build Kenya campaign.

At the time, the factory’s main lifeline was the supply of uniforms to private companies, and they began finding ways on how to supply uniforms to the country’s disciplined forces.

In 2012, the then Cabinet Secretary for Industry, Adan Mohamed, visited Thika Cloth Mills to understand the processes involved in textile production and what would be needed to revive the industry.

Among the things they discussed was how the factory could create employment opportunities through cotton farming, garment production, and textile manufacturing.

The Buy Kenya Build Kenya initiative paid off, and Thika Clothing Mills began receiving orders from organisations such as the Kenya Police and the National Youth Service (NYS).

However, getting these contracts was far from easy.

Dodhia recalled producing numerous fabric samples and receiving an order for just 17,500 metres.

When the material was rejected, Dodhia had invested almost Sh100 million in a machine capable of producing high-quality VAT-printed fabric, and the company was on the brink of closing down.

Fortunately, after further inspections and testing, the material passed the required checks, and more orders followed.

The company now supplies locally manufactured uniforms to a wide variety of clients.

The plant runs around the clock for 24 hours a day, with employees working in three shifts to ensure continuous production.

This has facilitated the factory’s production of over 500,000 metres of fabric per month.

Dodhia’s work also involves helping farmers in areas like Siaya and Homa Bay grow cotton for local factories.

She said that although TCM sometimes makes little or no profit from cotton, the efforts will pay off in the long run.

“In the long run, we have now got our source of cotton locally,” she said.

Some of the ways that the factory has reduced operating costs are by investing in solar power.

Its steam boilers also use coffee husks, macadamia shells and cashew nut shells instead of oil.

However, she said that the cost of manufacturing is very expensive, and that some of the machines in the factory costs as much as ksh 100 million.

When asked what advice she would give women in business, Dodhia encouraged them to keep pursuing what they believe is right.

“For me, I think it’s following the light. It’s following the right path. Doing the right thing. Fighting for what is good,” she said.

Few entrepreneurs have left a bigger mark on Nairobi’s real estate landscape than Lalitchandra Jeshanker “Lalit” Pandit.

He was the driving force behind the development of Fedha Estate, Akiba Estate, East African Building Society (EABS Building, now Ecobank House), Akiba Bank, and several landmark commercial properties in Nairobi.

Many of his admirers have described him as a born entrepreneur.

In fact, Rwandan economist David Himbara once noted that Pandit tried to sell a life insurance policy to the Kenyan colonial Governor, Sir Evelyn Baring, aged only 19.

Pandit’s journey in real estate began when he qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building Societies.

He returned to Kenya in October 1958 and officially registered the EABS building (now Ecobank House).

Armed with KSh 5,000, he proceeded to open his first office, which was located on Hussein Suleiman Road (now Tubman Road) in 1959, aged 23.

At the time, Kenya’s economy was reeling from the effects of the state of emergency, which had been declared in 1952 by British colonial Governor Sir Evelyn Baring in response to the Mau Mau Uprising.

Only two building societies existed in Nairobi, but Pandit was sure there was room for expansion.

His company began providing mortgages to Kenyans who wanted to build their homes, and rapidly expanded to Kisumu and Mombasa.

By 1952, he had bought the old Brunner’s Hotel and converted it to the imposing 20-storey Fedha Towers in Nairobi.

By 1989, 30 years after he started his company, Pandit was worth over KSh 2 billion. By 2005, EABS was valued at over KSh 10 billion.

He is also credited with founding the Akiba Loans and Finances company in 1972 and Mercantile Insurance in 1993.

Akiba Loans and Finances pioneered the development of various housing estates such as Fedha and Akiba in South C.

Fedha Estate is located in Embakasi, along the eastern side of Nairobi. It lies off Outer Ring Road, near Tassia Estate, Pipeline, and Nyayo Estate, Embakasi.

The estate’s growth is credited mainly to its proximity to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Sadly, Pandit passed away in 2005, aged 69.

By the time of his death, he was the chairperson of the Kenya Institute of Management and a member of the Capital Markets Authority.

His company, Akiba Loans and Finances, was also one of the first Kenyan finance companies to become a bank.

Pandit’s  property was inherited by his billionaire brothers Rajesh and Dhruv Pandit.

In mid-2008, the brothers merged Akiba Bank and EABS, after which they sold a 75% stake in the company to Togo-based Ecobank, in a deal that was worth over ksh 1 billion.

The brothers also own the iconic Emperor Plaza along Kenyatta Avenue.

In 2018, Business Daily reported that the brothers held the property on a 50:50 basis and had put it up for sale for approximately KSh 750 million.

They also own the iconic Fedha Plaza, which is located on Mpaka Road in Westlands, as well as  Nairobi’s Westminster House along Kenyatta Avenue.

Jaswinder ‘Jas’ Bedi has successfully built a family tailoring business into one of the largest textile manufacturing empires in East Africa.

He is the managing director of Bedi Investments Limited, a textile and garment manufacturing group headquartered in Nakuru.

The company employs over 2000 workers and supports more than 16 000 cotton farmers.

However, the business did not start on such a large scale.

Bedi Investments was started by his father and was officially registered in 1972. Tailoring had been part of the family for generations.

“My father was a tailor. My grandfather was a tailor,” Bedi said in an interview with The Star.

Bedi Investments initially focused on the manufacture of tailor-made suits, using fabrics that were imported from the United Kingdom.

At that time, Kenya’s textile industry was booming, with over 200 garment manufacturers and more than 70 textile mills.

However, the industry would face significant disruption from cheap imports as well as the rise of the mitumba (second-hand clothes) trade.

Many manufacturers collapsed under this wave, but Bedi Investments survived through constant pivoting.

In the 1980s, the Kenyan government imposed strict restrictions on textile imports. This forced Bedi senior to change his business philosophy, since he could no longer access the fabrics he needed.

He therefore sent his son, Jas Bedi, to England to properly study the business of textile manufacturing.

Four years later, the young Bedi returned to Kenya, armed with a degree in textile manufacturing from Bradford College and fresh ideas on how to run a successful business.

“I realised if you don’t make the right yarn, you’ll never make the right fabric,” he said.

He recognized that controlling production quality required controlling the manufacturing process.

Instead of just buying fabrics, he pushed the company into yarn production and textile manufacturing. This was a pioneering move in Kenya’s manufacturing industry at the time.

The journey was very difficult and expensive, with Jedi saying that they made lots of losses at first.

Their main challenge was figuring out how to compete with the rising flood of cheap mitumba imports.

To improve his competitive advantage, Bedi decided to focus on manufacturing uniforms for corporates, the police, military, and schools.

He realized that uniforms were recession-free, fashion-free, and mitumba-free. “There is no mitumba school uniform. There is no second-hand police uniform,” he said.

This became the business’ new lifeline.

Currently, Bedi Investments supplies uniforms across approximately 11 African countries. Its clients include corporate brands, disciplined forces, and multinationals.

All Shell petrol uniforms across Africa are designed and manufactured by Bedi’s production chain.

The Ugandan branch of the company goes by the name Fine Spinners Uganda Limited.

Despite his apparent success, Bedi remains committed to giving back to the community. He has built schools, employed people with disabilities, and given out tons of school uniforms for impoverished school children.

In the aftermath of the 2007-2008 post-election violence, his philanthropic ventures distributed about 200 000 free school uniforms to children from displaced families.

His vision is to establish a manufacturing footprint across five countries on the African continent by 2030, spread across East, West, Southern and North Africa.

Jedi is a former chairperson of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), and Vice Chairperson of the East African Business Council (EABC).

He has also served at the helm and on the boards of more than 17 companies and trade associations.

His achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including the Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS) in 2017 and the Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) in 2012.

He was also awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Desh Bhagat University in India

Kenyan content creator and car dealer Lookman Hasham, popularly known as Lookie63, recently disclosed how he sold four luxury vehicles worth a combined KSh 120 million.

Speaking on the Financially Incorrect podcast, he disclosed that the vehicles included a Mercedes-Benz G63, two Range Rover Vogues and a Range Rover Sport. All of them were 2024 models.

The transactions marked a key milestone in his business as a car dealer.

Lookie grew up in a middle-class family. His father was a veteran businessman, and he operated several businesses such as garbage collection, security, and imports.

After sitting for his O-levels in 2015, Lookie enrolled in an IT diploma, but he dropped out during his first year.

“I left university in the first year and moved into business,” he recalled.

His first job was at his father’s office, before he landed another job at Ngara, which involved arranging merchandise on shelves.

Starting his own business

In 2016, Lookie convinced his father to loan him $1000, and he used the money to start a car spare parts importation business.

Using his father’s business connections in the UK, he started importing various items such as lights, bulbs, and other spare parts for the Kenyan market.

While many local spare parts suppliers would require three to five weeks to complete deliveries, Lookie said that he could deliver his products within ten days, which enabled him to attract a lot of customers.

His father later gave him an additional $1,000, which he used to expand his business.

This enabled him to accumulate approximately KSh 150,000 to KSh 180,000 within two to three months.

He also attended car meets, joined WhatsApp groups, and established an Instagram page called Allwheel Drive Nation Kenya to attract customers.

Building an Automotive Brand

Lookie’s fortunes changed for the better when his father gifted him a Subaru. He modified the vehicle, documenting the entire journey on social media.

The modification was so good that it attracted attention from many car enthusiasts who were interested in adding similar modifications to their vehicles.

Customers increasingly approached him to ask where he sourced the parts, and business boomed.

In 2021, he sold the Subaru for KSh 1.8 million, combined the proceeds with other savings, and bought a Mercedes-AMG C63 worth approximately KSh 5.8 million.

He later bought and sold another Mercedes, which he had nicknamed Mona Lisa. However, he disclosed that he sold the vehicle, which had garnered his brand tons of online traction, at a loss.

“I didn’t make any money. I took a very big loss on that car,” he said.

Making Money Through Commissions

As his online following grew beyond 150,000, Lookie began working with dealerships to promote and sell vehicles.

He partnered with other luxury car dealers such as Alusi, which enabled him to earn commissions from the customers that he referred.

One major transaction involved a Range Rover worth approximately KSh 15 million. Lookie later partnered with another dealership, which allowed him to secure the ksh 120 million deal.

According to Lookie, customer referrals have helped him secure most of these deals. He also earns money by brokering car sales and importing spare parts.

For instance, he can source a car part for KSh 100,000 and sell it for KSh 110,000, earning KSh 10,000.

According to him, Kenya’s automotive content industry has grown by leaps and bounds.

Content creators can now earn through brand sponsorships, vehicle sales, and spare-parts imports.

He also revealed that one of his ambitions is to own a Porsche GT3, which he hopes to finance through buying used cars, improving them, and reselling them at a profit.

At one point in his life, Fred Waswa was so broke that he could not afford charcoal or paraffin to prepare a meal.

Today, he is the proud founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Octagon Africa, a financial services company that manages over KSh 85 billion in assets.

However, his journey was anything but straightforward.

This is his journey as told by WoK:

Humble background

Waswa, who grew up in Bungoma, is the firstborn in a family of eight children.

His father passed away when he was 14, leaving Waswa with the responsibility of helping his mother take care of his younger siblings.

After sitting for his A-levels, Waswa secured a teaching job, where he was paid ksh 1,500 per month.

Since the salary was too small, Waswa began buying and making bar soap, which his mother sold to neighbours for extra income.

“That started making me think, ‘Oh, I can make money,'” he recalled.

His ambition to pursue a career in pharmacy hit a brick wall when he failed biology, prompting him to study mathematics, statistics and computer science at the University of Nairobi.

After university, he landed an opportunity to pursue a master’s program that was offering a KSh 4,800 monthly stipend.

However, he abandoned the program when he landed a job at Pioneer Insurance, which was paying a KSh 4,500 salary.

That was in 1991.

From KSh 4,500 to KSh 75,000

While working at Pioneer, Waswa started a business that sold fish, stationery, and other products.

He later landed another job at Fidelity Shield Insurance before joining Minet, where his computer skills helped modernise the company’s pension administration.

However, despite this progress in his career, his salary did not align with his expectations.

In 1994, he took a KSh 15,000 loan from his boss to open a small hotel in Kawangware. The business failed spectacularly, and the debt eventually grew to KSh 26,000.

Minet named him Best Employee of the Year in 1994, but Waswa almost resigned in early 1995 to access his pension savings and repay the debt.

However, his senior manager came through and wrote him a KSh 26,000 cheque, which he used to repay the loan.

In 1997, Waswa secured a pension administration manager position at Standard Chartered Bank.

He had hoped for a KSh 35,000 salary, but the bank offered him a starting salary of KSh 67,000 before increasing it to KSh 75,000.

“I got a culture shock,” he recalled.

Starting a Garage Business

Despite earning a good salary at Standard Chartered, Waswa wanted to run his own business.

In May 2001, he resigned from his job, a move that many of his colleagues and friends considered reckless and stupid.

With his savings and limited resources, he bought a desk, two chairs, basic office equipment, and rented an office space. He then opened a consultancy business.

The business initially struggled to attract clients, which was expected.

However, Waswa kept going and soon began landing various assignments, including some from his former employer, Standard Chartered.

One of his biggest breakthroughs came when he was approached to resolve a financial reconciliation problem that had caused an accountant sleepless nights for six months.

Waswa quoted KSh 800,000, but the client offered him KSh 2.8 million if he solved the problem faster than expected.

Never one to waste time, he examined the financial records overnight and solved the problem by the next morning.

After presenting his findings, he was instructed to invoice KSh 2.8 million, which he used to buy land and build a house for his family.

Building Octagon Africa

With time, Waswa expanded his business and adopted the name Octagon Pension Services Ltd, which evolved to become the Octagon Africa brand.

The name Octagon represented the eight children in his family.

By the time of his appearance on Financially Incorrect, the business had expanded into insurance brokerage and established operations in Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania.

Additionally, Octagon currently manages more than KSh 85 billion in assets and has employed over 140 people.

According to Waswa, his success stems from his financial approach to treating money as something that should generate additional income rather than just spending.

“For me, I look at money as a seed. I’m not using the seed. I’m using the harvest,” he said.

In 2023, New York-based Kenyan businesswoman Margaret Nyamumbo made headlines when she secured a ksh 44M investment deal from Shark Tank billionaire Emma Grede.

Nyamumbo’s eloquent pitch was what first caught the public eye, with a viral video showing her seeking KSh 44 million (350,000 USD) as she tried to convince five tycoons on the popular American reality TV show Shark Tank to buy a 5% stake in her Kahawa 1893 coffee company.

At first, it was not clear whether her eloquent presentation had made any headway.

The ‘shark tanks’ who listened to her presentation were Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Emma Grede, and Kevin O’Leary.

It was not until she took to the socials the next morning that she confirmed winning a partnership with British businesswoman, co-founder, and CEO of Good American, Emma Grede.

Grede, a self-made tycoon, holds the distinction of being the first Black woman to serve as an investor on the Shark Tank show, with a net worth of Ksh.44.9 billion ($360 million).

The billionaire posted her partnership with Nyamumbo on her official X account, saying, “We did it! We got a deal. Emma! I am so excited to partner with the incredible @emmagrede to grow Kahawa and bring our mission to millions of women in the world! Let’s go.”

However, the deal did not align with Nyamumbo’s initial terms, with Grede offering to put up an 8% stake in her company, worth about $350 000.

The Story Behind Kahawa 1893

In her Shark Tank presentation, Nyamumbo, who studied in the USA, praised her coffee company and stated that her product is the best in the world.

She stated that she grew up on her grandfather’s coffee farm in Kenya, where she noticed that farmers rarely receive the compensation that is commensurate with the delicious coffee they produce.

She noted that while women provide 90% of the labor, they are rarely paid well because they do not own the land.

This lack of proper compensation was what inspired Nyamumbo to create Kahawa 1893 as a way of offering them proper compensation to coffee farmers.

1983 represents the year that coffee became commercially cultivated in Kenya.

“We source our coffee directly from women farmers in Africa, but that’s not all; we go one step further: our customers can tip the coffee farmers, and we match the tips,” she said.

In her Shark Tank presentation, Nyamumbo noted that her company had made $2million in 2022 revenues, $ 1.3 million year-to-date performance, projections of $4million for 2024, and $10 million revenue targets for 2025.

Her sojourn in the US began when she completed her high school education, when she received a scholarship to pursue an MBA at Harvard University.

Her parents could not raise enough money for her plane ticket, so she had to depend on additional fundraising from relatives and villagers.

After Harvard, she landed a job on Wall Street before she decided to venture into the coffee business in 2017.

Success After Shark Tank

Following her partnership with Grede, Nyamumbo gained valuable capital and resources that helped her brand expand to major national retailers like Sprouts, Target, Costco, and The Fresh Market.

The Shark Tank appearance also helped Kahawa 1893 gain unprecedented momentum, which helped Nyamumbo sell over $1 million worth of coffee in just two months following her presentation.

The company also achieved $4.2 million in overall sales during the year following the Emma Grede partnership, overtaking its previous record of $7million in lifetime sales.

Currently, Kahawa 1893’s net worth is approximately $8.75 million, with annual revenues exceeding $3million.

November 14, 2025, is a day that Silvia Jemutai will never forget as long as she lives.

On that day, she was officially promoted to become a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army.

The promotion made her the highest-ranking Kenyan military officer serving in the United States Army.

The ceremony, which was held at Fort Lee, Virginia, was attended by Jemutai’s family and friends, some of whom had travelled from Kenya while others resided in the United States.

Jemutai was born in Kopsiya, Poror, in Eldama Ravine, in Baringo County.

She dedicated her achievement to her late mother, Jacqueline Alice Kirui, saying that her strength, prayers, and sacrifice shaped her journey.

In the US Army, a lieutenant colonel (LC) serves as a battalion commander of 300 to 1000 soldiers. LCs are the 23^rd rank in the United States Army, ranking directly below a Colonel and above a Major.

According to Military-Ranks.Org, it generally takes an officer 16 to 22 years to achieve the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel.

As a Lieutenant Colonel, Jemutai belongs to the DoD pay grade O-5 and is entitled to a monthly salary of about $6,726. She is also entitled to an automatic increase in her basic salary every one to two years.

Aside from the salary, she is entitled to other allowances and bonus pay, such as hostile fire pay, retirement benefits, clothing allowance, medical benefits, and hazard pay.

Because of these additional benefits, a Lieutenant Colonel stationed in a high-risk area can easily earn compensation of $150,000-$200,000.

Other Kenyans Serving in the US Army

Aside from Sylvia Jemutai, there are many other Kenyans who are serving in the US Army. One of them is Gladys Kipsang, an Army medical officer who was recently promoted to the rank of major.

Kipsang shared the good news on a Facebook post, saying, “Allow me to reintroduce myself. Presenting MAJOR Kipsang! Today was my promotion ceremony, and it was beautiful.”

Kipsang, who has served in the US Army for 13 years, began her career as a Registered Nurse at University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas.

She worked at the station from July 2010 to June 2011 before she found a job at another nursing facility in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

She joined the US Army in March 2013 as a Healthcare Specialist and slowly rose through the ranks.

Her educational accolades include a master’s degree in Family Practice Nursing from Chamberlain University and a master’s degree in health sciences from Excelsior University.

Mary Miriti, a former teacher from Meru, is another Kenyan-born U.S. Army officer. She joined the US Army at age 48 after quitting her teaching job in Kenya.

Miriti, who studied Business Administration and Marketing at Daystar University, relocated to the US after winning the much-coveted green card.

Upon her arrival in America, she joined the Perkins School of Theology, where she studied to become a gospel minister.

Her chance to join the US Army arrived when her chaplain was recruiting people for Army ministry.

Miriti was promoted to the rank of major in 2021.

As an Army chaplain, she is responsible for preaching to the soldiers, counselling them, and helping them recover from mental conditions such as depression and PTSD.

Nyaiboye Charles Robi, popularly known as Obama, has built an impressive car business in Mombasa.

He is said to have been the third African to open and operate a car yard in Mombasa, an industry that was previously dominated by Arab, Indian, and Pakistani businessmen.

Today, Obama owns seven car yards in Mombasa, with about 300 new and used vehicles available for sale.

However, his journey to success was not easy. This is his journey as told by WoK:

In a recent interview with The Star, Obama disclosed that he was born in 1984 in Girigiri village in Kuria, Migori County.

His father had four wives, and Obama grew up in a polygamous family of 30 siblings.

After completing his primary school education, he joined Matare Boys High School in 1999, where he reportedly trekked 12 km daily.

However, he later transferred to Siria High School in Trans Mara, where he sat for his KCSE exams. He was often sent home over lack of school fees, and he spent many a school day working on his family farm.

Obama began hustling at an early age. His first job involved loading gravel on lorries at Maasai Mara, where he was paid a measly KSh 200.

After high school, he returned to his home village in Gigiri, where he opened and ran a small retail shop until thieves stole everything.

Obama dusted himself, armed himself with ksh 600 and two sets of clothes, and relocated to Kricho to start life afresh.

He arrived hungry and fatigued and spent his first night in a dilapidated Telekom call box. The next morning, he hit the ground running and started to hawk pineapples.

After hawking for several days, he met a former classmate who introduced him to the business of selling small merchandise such as pens, handkerchiefs, and socks.

The job involved working for a company which required Obama to travel to towns such as Kisumu, Sotik, and Kisii.

He worked for this company for a while until he decided to buy merchandise himself and sell at a profit, following his employer’s business model.

With time, he expanded to other towns such as Kitale, Kakamega, Kisumu, and Mombasa, where he became one of the largest wholesale sellers of merchandise.

Obama decided to settle in Mombasa and used his savings of KSh 20,000 to rent a shop, after which he borrowed KSh 150,000 to stock merchandise.

Over time, his business grew steadily, and he became one of the largest wholesalers in Mombasa.

A staunch Christian, he joined a local church, where he met various car dealers and gained interest in the trade.

He took a Sh 300,000 loan from his wife and bought his first car, a Toyota Vitz. He sold the car at a profit and bought his second car, a Toyota Spacio.

However, setbacks arose when he was abducted by thugs while withdrawing Sh 415,000 outside the bank to buy stock. The thieves took away all the money.

Luckily, Obama had built rapport with some traders from Eastleigh, who gave him another loan to recover his business.

Despite various setbacks, he worked hard and set up his first car yard, with mentorship from friends like Anthony Kimani. Becoming the third African to own a car yard in Mombasa.

Today, his car yard, Robimax Auto Trading Ltd yard, has seven branches in Mombasa, with at  least 300 new and used cars on sale.

Obama now guides and mentors his employees, making sure that they follow the same disciplined path that he has followed over many years of doing business.

“I don’t want my employees to simply be employees. I want them to be entrepreneurs, so I hold their hands, just like some people held my hand in their small ways,” he said.

Kenya’s real estate sector has produced many successful entrepreneurs, and real estate investor Wambui Gaitha is top of the cream.

She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Regal Africa Group, a Nairobi-based firm involved in real estate services, investment advisory, wealth management support.

In a recent interview on Young millionaire talks, Wambui disclosed that she has been in business since 2015, when she started the Regal Africa group.

She also revealed that she made her first million while she was still in her 20s.

When asked why she wanted to become an entrepreneur, she stated that that was the only sure path she knew to becoming wealthy. According to her, the majority of wealthy people in the world are entrepreneurs.

She also explained the difference between being rich and being wealthy.

“Being rich means you look like you have money. Wealth, on the other hand, means owning assets, having financial freedom, and having generational wealth,” she said.

Wambui, whose educational repertoire includes an MBA in Finance from Hult International Business School, stated that one of her most useful money lessons is that money comes and goes.

“No risk, no reward. That is the essence of entrepreneurship. If you want to be wealthy, you must have a great plan and make a calculated risk. If you are too conservative, you’ll not go far,” she said.

According to Wambui, one reason some employed people struggle to build wealth is that they remain in the same career positions for a long time and are often unwilling to take financial risks.

She stated that in her opinion, Nairobi is the best place to invest in real estate in Kenya.

She explained that Nairobi has positioned itself as an international city and has a lot of young people, similar to other cities like Dubai, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Wambui, who describes herself as a real estate wealth strategist, stated that a good investment strategy for young people is investing in real estate.

“You want to start thinking about acquiring your first property. This means that you need to find a decent apartment in a great location that can generate income for you,” she said, adding that having cashflow is one of the key tenets of being wealthy.

She gave examples of real estate investment projects in Kenya, including developments such as Qwetu which provide housing for university students in major towns such as Nairobi.

She also explained that a person can start with as little as Ksh 50, 000 to Ksh 100,000 and continue buying shares over time.

“I tell young people to start with what they have. Form an investment group of like-minded young people, pool resources, and that’s how you start your investment journey,” she said.

Her best business advice is for entrepreneurs to stay true to their vision and trust the process.

“Nobody said it was going to be smooth or easy. But if you have a great idea and a great plan, eventually you will be successful,” she said.

Wambui also believes that one of the greatest advantages young people have is time.

Her interest in real estate started while she was in her 20s, but she said she was only able to fully pursue some of her real estate goals later in her 30s and 40s.

She therefore encourages young people to remain patient and continue believing in their dreams and goals.

Finally, Wambui said she is a committed Christian and believes that success requires God’s guidance.

“You can have the best plans and put in all the work. But if God does not have your back, everything you do is futile,” she said.