Kenyan story is not all doom and gloom

Every society has specific periods that define its socio-economic and political progress. Americans fondly remember the roaring 1920s and the 1940s (post-war period). These were defined by consumer spending on automobiles and the suburban revolution.

One wonders what era defines modern-day Kenya’s economy at its best. Views may vary, yet banking and mobile telephony may just hold the answer to this question. The days when owning a bank account was all but out of the reach of ordinary mortals may seem like the ancient past.

We forget that was scarcely 15 years ago. In fact, we may even forget how the banking revolution in Kenya came to be. This revolution was brought about by a small band of individuals working for a largely insolvent outfit called Equity Building Society.

Equity historians like Gerhard Coetzee have long told us that being allowed to fail – that principle at the heart of American entrepreneurial progress is what the Central Bank of Kenya applied to enable Equity’s success.

We pick on Equity because it exemplifies and represents the spirit of many Kenyans throughout the country. Equity statistics show that their peak transaction times are usually from midnight to early morning.

Now don’t assume that these are members of the underworld or late-night revellers. Data analysis has shown that these people are merchants mostly trading out of Wakulima, Landhies and Muthurwa markets. With produce being delivered at night, what better time to transact than in the dead of night, as it were. And it cannot get safer than cashless, which is a less risky platform.

Yet when the turnaround poster child Dr James Mwangi walked into Equity, he realised that his first task was to work on the morale of the staff. They had to believe in their ability and pride of place as agents of change. Early staffers remember that they were ashamed to introduce themselves as Equity personnel. At that time (1980s), Equity was not a brand to be proud of.

Dr Mwangi charged them to go out there and introduce themselves proudly as people working for Equity. They were to define Equity by what it set out to achieve not its status then. They had set out to achieve financial emancipation of Africa and Africans.

As it has been said, it is never the size of the cat but the size of the fight inside the cat that matters. Here was a cat with a lot dynamite packed inside. This is what propelled early Equity warriors like the late Ben Nyutho. Armed with modest education but enormous native wisdom and natural prestige, they understood what was most important.

There are few sacrifices they cannot make. Within our recent spate of scandals, it is trust that is in such short supply.

The people given enormous responsibilities over vast resources do not care much about their name. But this is not the story of the average Kenyan. The Kenyan walking down the street lives by the brow of her sweat. S/he is propelled by his own genius, hard work, faith and honesty.

It is this combination that has made Kenyan companies thrive beyond imagination. To be sure, Kenyans succeed in spite of their government, not because of it.

It also testifies to the fact that another road exists outside tenderpreneuring and influence peddling. That bit by bit all our desires are valid if we are willing to put in enough effort. As long as we are ready to disturb today, we can secure tomorrow not only for ourselves but for generations to come.

It is testament to the fact that as long as we can answer as to why we are dedicated to a certain course, we will always succeed. This reason, this higher goals and philosophical underpinning shall for ever give us impetus and see us through even the most-bleak of moments.

The story is not any different for William Guda Osewe of Ranalo Foods, a famous traditional foods eatery on Kimathi Street. Starting out as a hawker operating in Nairobi’s Kaloleni, he rose through his own wits to become a millionaire restaurant owner and a household name to boot.

If you met Paul Kinuthia several years ago, you could only have seen a hawker pushing lipstick and a few beauty products. A hustler like any other.

But through discipline, keen observation and thirst for knowledge, he graduated into a manufacturer of shampoo. Starting out in downtown Kirinyaga Road, he moved to Gikomba before settling at Lunga Lunga Road as Interconsumer Products. The old adage that there is money in women’s products became true in his case.

Many years down the road he sold his company, becoming a billionaire in the process.

We believe ending the year by focusing on the good is a way of flushing out bad energy.

Money being carted away in bags so dominated 2016 that you’d be forgiven for thinking that that is the only Kenyan story. We submit it isn’t. Kenya has a better story.