Why are we letting foreigners run everything tech in Kenya?

[formeradministrator]

@Swansea

A good example is right here before your eyes.

This site with the “504” errors. Can you imagine if it was a millionaire dollar site that clients, customers etc depended on and were unable to access?

Need I say more. @administrator na turedio @Electronics4u mnasikia? Bure kabisa.

We are working to sort it out bro

[formeradministrator]

@sakwa

The africastalking guy gets along very well with white investors because he has an engineering degree from MIT and had worked for investment banks in the US. He is technically a white man in their eyes. The same with most other local tech billionaires like Ayisi Makatiani and Mucheru (CS)

The jambopay guys went full blown corrupt to win tenders and now they are getting haunted by it…

I don’t know the story of pesapal but I would not be surprised if it’s one of the above cases.

I would say the most successful real Kenyan tech company is cellulant though they had to partner with a Nigerian. These guys started small almost 20 years ago and have been growing the business slowly and re-inventing themselves as tech waves pass. They were the kings of ringtones those early days when everyone had a kabambe without internet, to get an new rington you would send an sms to a shortcode. the ringtone codes would be advertised daily on newspapers. Today, they are into payments, powering most banks SMS and USSD codes they have their own mobile money product piloting in other African countries I think. Very inspiring! Was very shocked when they lost 6 engineers to the Dusit2 attack.

Personally I experienced SMS Leopard when they started. The guy was very aggressive from the onset and that’s the time short code subscription business was just picking up in Kenya. They were the only sole Safaricom Shortcode provider by then and through the leverage of the big brand they managed to scale up quickly. The secret is in “presentations” and “selling hope”. If your good at putting your numbers right to investors then you will get investment and you exit. Most investors have money but they don’t have time to see small figures. If you have any idea that you need to secure investment on just let me know so that I guide you

[ilonMask]

Usiende mbali, hii ktalk ni ya nani…?

[Mchuna]

@ilonMask

Usiende mbali, hii ktalk ni ya nani…?

[ATTACH=full]287228[/ATTACH]

[Veejay]

Lakini kuna a very huge factor hamjaangalia. If you have worked in tech you must know that Kenyan companies favour Business to Business products. Most of these unicorn startups position their products as B2C. It is very easy for any capable techie to build a platform that serves other businesses e.g credit scoring(Metropol, Transunion), building SaaS systems for use in other corporates like CRMs for Saccos. This does not even need lots of creativity but is a safer bet and a lower cost of development than going the B2C way.

Hapo ndio investors come in and with the points highlighted by other talker before come into play. Ultimately in our market I think B2B is more viable for a Kenyan tech entrepreneur than purely B2C approach.

[Tarantinoh]

@smokin_gun

I blame the 8-4-4 system. Most Kenyans think the money is in white-collar jobs and traditional methods of earning money like farming.

They don’t want to try anything new. No sense of innovation.

Name innovation made by Kenyans who studied GCSE or CPE.

[ricko]

But most of those white investors are a fraud.like the inventor of safi analytics Kennedy nganga…we had highlighted this story befoe…

https://www.kenyatalk.com/index.php?threads/founders-getting-kicked-out-of-their-companies.136027/

[coco_rae]

“Innovation” cannot be in the same sentence with “Kenya”
Build an innovative culture + funding

[Gratified]

@grandpa

Funding is the biggest challenge. That is why most Kenyan founders nowadays look for a white cofounder.
Almost all successful Kenyan startups are led by whites e.g.

1. Finance - Tala(Indian), Branch(White), Okash(opera), AZA Finance(white)
2. Agriculture - Twiga Foods(started by white person), wefarm(white)
3. Logistics - Lori Systems(white)
4. Solar - Almost all major players are white people starting with Mkopa Solar
5. SWVL - Egyptian, Glovo - Spanish

The most successful startups that have majority Kenyan shareholding probably are:

1. Africastalking
2. Jambopay, pesapal

Cellulant should be number 1.

[Brianmwas]

What makes people afraid of start-ups is market. Kenyans still don’t trust online stuff. Wanaona tu pesa zao zitaibiwa. So getting people to actually use your services is hard. Hata hizo apps mentioned, most of them aren’t doing any good in Kenya.
Loan apps watu wanakopa na hawatalipa
Taxi apps, very few people use them, mwananchi anajua uber ni pesa mingi.
E-commerce sites are falling. Kilimall siku hizi people don’t trust it. Jumia pia inakufa ti polepole cz people have the mentality “acha niende duka nijionee chenye nanunua ndio nitoe pesa”
Naona only the Millennials na iGen watachange the game not our skeptical Baby Boomer parents

[grandpa]

@Gratified

Cellulant should be number 1.

Cellulant was started in 2004. I fucking get pissed off when someone calls it a startup.

Just for context someone who was born when cellulant was started is about to clear high school. Mwache jokes tafadhali. It is a successful tech business but no a startup as they like to peddle

[John_Lee]

yo we haven’t invented the wheel yet !!
we reach there some day
necessity is the mother of all invention

why invent a phone when you can use a smoke signal.
why invent a wheel when you can walk.
why invent a chain saw we can use mad to build
why build a swimming pool when I can swim at the river.
why invent spoon and dishes …
why invent … at all ?

[Titty_Twister]

@LuandaMagere

africans are a minority in success stories in africa…am ashamed

How have you helped? Practical remedy perhaps? What is your success other than pointing fingers and whining?

[LuandaMagere]

@Titty Twister

How have you helped? Practical remedy perhaps? What is your success other than pointing fingers and whining?

i usually consider kenyan or african owned products before i even look at foreign things …for example , i support KEROCHE 100% , i buy kenyan soaps . basically i always try to support fellow kenyans where possible … i also shop at kenyan supermarkets … time ya elections , i support leaders on merrit and note tribe …

[Titty_Twister]

@LuandaMagere

… time ya elections , i support leaders on merrit and note tribe …

So who had merit the last time we voted? Gubernatorial and presidential

[LuandaMagere]

@Titty Twister

So who had merit the last time we voted? Gubernatorial and presidential

@Titty Twister

So who had merit the last time we voted? Gubernatorial and presidential

i was against uhuruto and jubilee as a whole …

[ibrahim300]

Those with money invest in real estate. Pesa inakunywa maji huko

[Kibinda_Nkoye]

@Sambamba

As someone who’s been in tech for so long and have worked with some these so called Kenyan tech gurus, I’d say our biggest problem is honesty.
Investor akiweka pesa inakulwa. You cannot trust a Kenyan bonobo with 5 billion. They’ll start defrauding their own company and buy plots waki jenga flats.
I’ve seen it happen.

This is very true. I have also seen it happen in this town

[Slim_fit]

Who do you expect to fund Kenyan startups? Locally? Local self proclaimed billionaires would rather stash their ill gotten wealth in cayman and the likes. They are more like people who don’t know what to do with their money.

[Veejay]

@Slim_fit

Who do you expect to fund Kenyan startups? Locally? Local self proclaimed billionaires would rather stash their ill gotten wealth in cayman and the likes. They are more like people who don’t know what to do with their money.

True. Heri wacleanup that cash with local investments tu. Worst case scenario several Kenyans are employed and the economy gets a boost