BUSINESS AFRICANS

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Changing the way safe drinking water is bought and sold in Africa

James Steere (third from left) South Africa has over the last few years experienced water shortages that led to it not being able to provide reliable water supply to almost two million people between 2011 and 2015. James Steere is a visionary with an Oxford University degree who has taken it upon himself to come up with an innovative solution to the water crisis. His company, I-Drop Water is a for-profit social enterprise that designs, builds and installs drinking water purification and dispensing machines in grocery stores at no cost, sharing income generated from water sales with store owners. I-Drop Water has so far installed purification and dispensing units in over 55 locations in South Africa , Botswana , Zimbabwe and Ghana and helped shop owners save almost 995,000 litres of water and over 1,300 kilogrammes of plastic waste associated with traditional bottled-water alternatives. “I sincerely believe in the need for sustainable solutions, and the opportunity

Property CEO talks about opportunities in the Kenyan market

The Greenspan shopping mall in Nairobi In November 2015 the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed its first real estate investment trust (REIT), the Stanlib Fahari I-REIT. The fund currently owns three properties in Nairobi – the Greenspan shopping mall and two mixed office and light industrial properties. It is now looking for additional investments. How we made it in Africa talks to Fahari’s CEO, Kenneth Masika, on introducing a new security to the market, as well as some of the opportunities he sees in Kenya’s property sector. Below are slightly edited extracts. Is the fund mostly focused on commercial property or is it also looking at residential? At the fund we’ve got a strategy where we want to create a diversified portfolio of quality assets, and so we are looking into the main sectors of property – that is retail , commercial, light industrial, hospitality , and residential. But what we are doing, to start with as we scale up the fund, is to try and

I Turn Down Worldly Deals Worth Millions – DJ Ernesty

Ernest Esekhile is a graduate of Estate Management from Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State. The estate Surveyor turns profession DJspeaks with CHINENYE ANAEMENA on sundry issues. Your Background? My name is Ernest Esekhile, I am in my 30s, a graduate of Estate Management from Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State. Am an estate Surveyor by profession but a DJ by calling, I do both Radio and club DJ, gospel DJ and all round DJ. I come from a family of six in Edo State and I have a twin sister. How was growing up like? Growing was really cool especially coming from a family like mine where the children's needs are of utmost priority to our parents, it wasn't so rosy, it was just okay. Your parents and the influence they had on you My parents have influenced me a lot, they are addict followers of Christ who attend Anglican Church, so we had strict adherence to doing things the right way, and that has shaped me into who I

Paul Kihiko: The man behind Nairobi’s first chicken wings only fast-food joint by Nelly Murungi on '1 April 2017'

The idea for Paul Kihiko’s fast-food restaurant brand Wing It, which specialises in chicken wings, was born over a lunch with friends. “When the waiter came to the table with the menu, it had all the usual items: burgers, chicken, everything. But everybody somehow decided to take chicken wings – the whole table. So I thought, why not start something because it’s a business I have seen working very well in Europe and the US. It’s a huge industry.” Today, Wing It has two restaurants in the Galleria and The Hub shopping malls in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. The company offers chicken wings in 15 flavours, which Kihiko himself created through experimenting with different recipes. But starting the venture wasn’t easy, and as Kihiko explains, “The biggest challenge during the planning phase was approaching the landlords for the buildings where we wanted to be placed. The issue is that they always asked, ‘Have you done this before? Before I give you this space, do you have a t

“Failure only happens when you stop,”

“Failure only happens when you stop,” says Rapelang Rabana, founder and CEO of award-winning learning platform, Rekindle Learning. For anyone reading through Rabana’s professional bio, it would be difficult to imagine that she has ever experienced failure. Since stepping into entrepreneurship about 11 years ago, Rabana has founded two successful companies; become a sought-after speaker and thought leader; been appointed to various leadership roles (including a partner at the private equity and advisory firm, Nisela Capital); and been showered with numerous international awards and accolades. These include being named the Entrepreneur for the World (youth category) at the World Entrepreneurship Forum in 2014 and being featured on the cover of Forbes Africa magazine before the age of 30. Most recently she has been named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. But during a telephonic interview with How we made it in Africa last week, Rabana admitted there has

The Embarrassing Beginning of My Entrepreneurial Journey

Anything is possible if your heart is in it. Nothing is worth it if your heart isn't. DANIEL DIPIAZZA CONTRIBUTOR Founder of Rich20Something When I walked onto campus at the University of South Florida for the first time, I was deadset on becoming a doctor. On the first day of school, I proudly strutted into the registration office and declared myself PRE-MED. (I imagined the giant diploma, framed and hanging in my luxury office 10 years later...) “You know, you don’t have to decide until your sophomore year,” the frumpy secretary said, unphased by my boldness. “Ha!” I scoffed. “Why prolong the inevitable?” Then I proceeded to flunk Chemistry 101. It was one of those huge lecture hall classes where you sit in a giant half dome with desks that look like bleacher seats, while the professor rattles mindlessly from a huge projector hooked to her laptop. I had to use a handheld remote buzzer (which came with our $279 Chemistry book...) to signal