Director Ndindi Nyoro: I do what I love

What inspired your interest in business?

Business, people and poverty. I admired the lives of business people in the village.

They lived ‘good’ lives and the few cars there were always owned by businessmen.

The second, and I think most important inspiration was the desire to escape poverty.

What was your experience with poverty?

My mother is a peasant farmer while my father was a small time carpenter.

He lived in Kiandutu slum in Thika and we lived in that mud-house with him. I think that slum was worse than Kibera.

You had a kiosk in your village by the time you were in Standard Four. You should have been playing with other kids at that time...

Like I said, I desired to have a life like that of business people.

Apart from the kiosk, what else did you do as a young man?

Lots of things. I reared and sold rabbits, chicken, sugar cane, hawked, was a cobbler and prepared charcoal then sold it.

Out of all those things, which one do you rate as the worst venture you ever engaged in?

‘Kuchoma makaa’! If there is one business you’ll be engaged in and never get fat, it is the business of selling charcoal. The preparation is frustrating and the selling process is gruelling and unrewarding.

Back then, what kind of aspirations did you have?

The farthest my imagination would go then was to the point of me owning a clothes stall in Thika town and maybe an old personal car.

You studied BA Economics at Kenyatta University and finished in 2009. Was the university experience worth your time?

It was worth it. I did some little business at the university, I got into student leadership but the best part is that it is from KU that I got my internship at Ngenye Kariuki Stock Brokers. That internship set me towards the path I am on today. Ngenye Kariuki mentored me.

Solomon Maina is a co-owner and your partner at Investax Capital, a former classmate. Your other business ventures are also co-founded or co-owned by a friend or someone you knew back in your schooling years. Is this your idea of old boy clubs and how crucial are such insider networks?

I don’t think they count so much. Opportunities come from all directions. Those old boy clubs and networks may help in assisting to enhance the situation but they cannot lead it.

You run Afrisec-your IT Solutions Company and Investax Capital, what else are you working on?

I’ve already registered a company called Sahara Capital. This will be a private equity firm that will invest in the energy, IT and finance sectors among others.

How do you approach your work?

I do not do business that I don’t enjoy. I would want to go through everything in a way that I appreciate all the work. I’ve come to accept that life has so many opportunities, that worrying about past mistakes is a waste of time.

What is the one thing that you’ve learnt about money?

Making money or looking for money for the sake of making money is total emptiness especially when the process of acquiring it involves unhappiness. I believe happiness can’t be bought.

They say a young man in possession of a fortune is in need of a wife. Have you got one yet?

Not yet. Can’t say I’m dating either.

You must be spending lots of time with your siblings then?

We are all grown up. I’m the last born out of four. And you know how grown ups are. I spend most of my free time travelling.