Kenyans are known the world over for their business ingenuity. This entrepreneurial spirit is very alive in a section of Kenyans living in the diaspora who have gone to set up thriving businesses in their host countries. In this article, we bring you the story of Alex Karundu, Michael Njenga, Herbat Langat and Bernard Langat – the four Kenyans who joined hands to establish a successful logistics company operating over 300 trucks in the United States of America (USA).
Here is the story of the proprietors of Seagate Holdings as told by WoK.
Seagate Holdings Limited
Segate Holdings Limited is a logistics, freight and trucking company established in 2014 with its headquarters based in Dallas, Texas. The company comprises five major subsidiaries namely Seagate Freight which deals with dry cargo, Dolphin Carriers which offers refrigerator services, Neptune trucking which offers transportation services. The other two subsidiaries are Dolphin Brokerage and Dolphin Fulfilment and Warehousing. The company began operations with 3 trucks and has grown to operate over 300 trucks. They have employed 340 individuals mostly from the East African region.
Also Read: Media Personalities Who Went On To Own Their Successful Media Companies
The Founders
The four founders had originally moved to the USA for further studies. They become friends for a while but during the 2008 US recession which affected their sources of livelihoods, they bonded on the idea of becoming their own bosses. They discovered that over 400 million individuals in the United States rely on transportation of either foodstuffs or clothes hence the birth of Seagate Holdings Limited. Michael Njenga serves as the company’s President in charge of business development, Alex Karundu serves as the Managing Director in charge of Risk management, Herbat Langat is the Operations Director and Bernard Langat is the Chief Financial Officer.
Challenges in the Business
During an exclusive interview with Alex Chamwada on the Daring Abroad show, Herbert Lang’at revealed that running a business in America is quite harder than in Africa but the returns are worth it.
“Over here there are so many regulations. It’s not like where we come from in Africa where you can run a business without regulations. Over here you have to go through those regulations and challenges where you have to stay by the law. The government is always monitoring the company to see how we are performing,” he said.
Other Activities
The founders through Seagate Holdings LLC offers mentorship programs for Africans living in the US. The company provides internship opportunities to the university graduates who are looking forward to join the logistics and freight industry. The founders have also opened a call center at Sifa Towers located in Hurlingham Nairobi where Kenyans can get their help in transporting their goods from the US to Kenya. The company is planning to start shipping goods from the US ordered by Kenyans in the e-commerce platforms such as ebay, Alibaba and Amazon. The company’s vision is to become the largest African owned logistics and Freight Company in the United States of America.
