On the busy Ngong Road leading into Karen – known as the leafy suburbs – and further up to Ngong town, life is busy. As the Chinese continue building a multi-lane highway, the Kenyan shall not be hindered from selling artifacts, chewing gum and maperemende, sugarcane, bananas, peanuts or drinking water in the traffic that builds up every morning and evening. The dust is up in the air, construction workers breaking the stones, barricading the road, huge trucks digging the the rich soil out of the ground to pave way for development. The construction of the roads widens on each side and the Jua Kali sector shift their products further out into the famished grounds. On one side, almost into the forest, on the other to where the limits allow – back-dropped by upcoming flats and apartments, butcheries, bars and grills, hardware stores, Mpesa kiosks and mama so and so’s fruit shop. But at some point they can not move further back and when the truck has to dig at their final remaining spot, they place their creations: beds, tables, chairs, bookshelves, clay pots painted in fiery colours and woven baskets in the ditch left behind from the excavated earth. If this does not demonstrate the resilient and entrepreneurial nature of the Kenyan, nothing else might be as convincing.

The informal sector, known as the Jua Kali sector, has quickly expanded to include all sorts of industries working outdoors under the hot sun, the jua kali. The informal sector accounts for at least 80 percent of the jobs created in the country in 2018 (of the circa 840,000 new jobs). Less than 80,000 of the new jobs in 2018 were created by the formal sector. The informal sector is estimated to employ over 14 million people overall. In Kenya, the Jua Kali sector accounts for over 30% of the countries GDP. Over 60% of the Jua Kali workers are youth of 18-35 years and 50% of these are women.

 These people are highly entrepreneurial, talented craftsmen/women and traders who create goods on demand and come from all walks of life.

PHILLIP ISOHE – I AM AN ARTIST AND THE BEST WELDER IN THE BLOCK

Phillip Isohe started his path to being a Jua Kali entrepreneur by virtue of his craftsmanship. He is essentially an artist who can draw anything you may dream of and weld if for you: beds, furniture, gates, statues, landmarks such as the cow indicating your approach to Fresha Dairies and lots more. His career, however, started with working for a mzungu in construction, he explains, ‘Nilianza kwa mjengo.” His mzungu employer, Andrew, had a workshop with craftsmen creating items for construction sites. Phillip’s job was mixing the cement. Andrew, whom Phillip speaks of in great esteem, would see how Phillip helped the other workers with the creative part of the job. One day Andrew asked, “Who can draw a bottle for a water company.” Phillip drew a beautiful bottle that was later modeled into a large 3D frame. Henceforth, he was promoted from mixing cement to working with the other craftsmen. It took him about a month to learn to weld. 

“I knew I was talented in drawing since I was a child,” Phillip prided in his ability to create anything his customers ask for, “once I draw it, I can make it.” Phillip has also made sculptures for Kenya Wildlife Services and even created a model for a bus that was then put together from scratch. His other work includes office reception art from recycled materials.

At this point, Phillip reflects on his childhood in Kakamega. He was brought up by a step mother who did not take well to the fact that he did better than her biological children in school. Sometimes she would intentionally destroy his books, and while her children attended a decent school , he was enrolled in a shule mbovu – a pitiful school. Meanwhile his father, who was alcohol bound and rarely present, eventually left for Nairobi, leaving him at the mercy of his already frustrated step mother. When he got to form 3 in secondary school and could not proceed, he decided he needed to make a life for himself. Phillip followed suit and moved to Nairobi in search of the Nairobian dream – a better life – as with many of the jua kali workers who had left their rural homes to dwell in the city. “I will never be like my father,” Phillip promised himself and kept true to it by staying sober, working hard and being there for his wife and two children.

Phillip decided it was time to leave Andrew’s workshop. He worked with craftsmen in the Westlands area of Nairobi until he completely mastered the skill of welding. In 2007 he opened his own workshop. 

Phillip loves manual work and working with machines. He loves that through his work he can practice his art and have the freedom to pursue his other artistic ambitions. Phillip has produced 16 songs of the live Benga genre and has recorded songs with the likes of the late Rowland Isese. He is soon planning to release his first album.

Future in the industry?

Sometimes customers do not understand quality. I always use the best and ensure anything we weld in my workshop is durable. The price might be slightly higher than my neighbours but I do not compromise my good finishing and quality iron. The City Council isn’t always friendly and at times use an aggressive approach. They should instead give guidelines and educate people to comply.

What does it take to succeed in the Jua Kali sector?

Flexibility, adaptability, creativity, resilience, optimism, a portfolio of your work and the City Council trade licenses required.

Find Phillip on +254 720 804 966

PAMELA RIAKA – I AM A CARPENTER AND THE BOSS LADY

Pamela is now in her sixties as she reflects on the injustices of life with a shrug of resignation. She has raised her six children on her own. “You know how it is, he moved to Mombasa,” she says. Her weariness fills the air like a dust devil. But an almost imperceptible smile softens her jaws as she acknowledges her long-lived hardiness, “ I loved working with a hammer and fixing things when I was a little girl.”

Besides the firmness of her hands, her 5th born son, Emmanuel, is the sturdy evidence of her endurance. Emmanuel helps her run the carpentry workshop. He assists in managing the seven workers as he himself files and sands blocks of cypress wood. 

“Kunapanda na kushuka,” Pamela tells of the changamoto, challenges, of her business. “You sell one then make another,” she adds. When hard times kick in paying her workers and feeding her family become a struggle. Emmanuel holds hope for the family as he prepares to start his studies in Actuarial Science at Kenyatta University in September this year, having done well in his secondary school national examinations.

As much as woodwork was in her blood, Pamela only gained her entrepreneurial sense when she got retrenched from her job at Kenya Airways in the year 2000. When she first started her business she also cleaned houses to earn extra money to support her venture and feed her children.

Deforestation is a valid concern but offers challenges to the woodwork trade of the Jua Kali sector. The ability to strike the balance is compromised. Pamela says they often import wood from Tanzania and Uganda, which hikes the prices. To curb the adverse effects of cutting down trees, logging in community and public forests is now illegal in Kenya. Wood like Mahogany comes at a stiff price and cannot meet the demand vis-a-vis the cost. 

Pamela points toward the main road and talks of how the car jammed road was once a wild forested bush. She explains how thugs would hide in the forest. It was unsafe to walk through once the darkness came over the land. She moved to Nairobi in 1986 and has watched the city transform as did her life. Now in that territory lie her modern minimalist bookshelves, rustic verandah chairs and Victorian dressing tables.

Future in the industry?

When the new roads are complete, this may return the customers.

What does it take to succeed in the Jua Kali sector?

Endurance and skill.

Find Pamela on + 254 728 988 803

JOSEPH MAINA – I AM A SERIAL JUA KALI ENTREPRENEUR

Joseph is a reserved man of few words. He prefers when his stunning displays do most of the talking. He hides behind the beautiful woven papyrus racks, glossing them with oak and mahogany varnish to give them that final touch of perfection. He stands back to observe as we both briefly converse in Swahili and share silent moments of watching the creation come to life. This is a couple of years down the line from his initial ‘artmanship’, nurturing flowers for sale; inherited from his mother’s trade.

Joseph grew up watching his mother groom flowers up until the time he stopped school in Class eight due to financial hardships. Joseph managed to get into a mechanics course for two years a little later in life and got a job at a garage. 

As the apt saying goes, ‘education is what remains after one has forgotten what one learned in school.’ Joseph, with his education, took quickly to his inherited skill. He had the reserved tenacity to care for the flowers and his work at the garage would not give him the freedom to explore as trading in flowers did. He soon realised that he could do more given that flowers were seasonal. Joseph saved up some money and came into a collaboration with other artisans to import dried papyrus from Busia town. He henceforth worked with his fellow welders to create the beautiful woven furniture and other household items. It was in the year 2000 that he moved to the urbanising Ngong road to expand his trade.

Future in the industry?

To bring in more variety to my trade.

Joseph has already started collaborating regionally, across the borders.

What does it take to succeed in the Jua Kali sector?

Adaptability and creativity.

Find Joseph Maina on +254 723 236 177

MARGARET WAIRIMU – I AM ALL THINGS POTS AND FLOWERS

Margaret Wairimu and her twin sister Terry work alongside Joseph, having fully taken over the grooming of flowers. To complement the flowers, one has a choice of picking a pot that suits one’s sense and sensibility … burning shades of orange and red to earthy browns and placid blues: pure, dotted, striped, sunrises … anything that will make you feel life is worth more than you gave it.

It was their brother who worked with Joseph that introduced them to this trade. Margaret started with selling vegetables in the market but that did not quite work out for her. In her free time she helped her brother groom the flowers he traded in and “when he saw I was able to do it, he gave me a shamba,” Margaret explains.

On the piece of land she received in front of the Ngong Forest she filled all species of flowers and herbs for sale at a monthly fee of about Ksh 500 to the Forest Services and the City Council. In her nursery you can find rosemary, succulents, roses when in season, daisies, palm trees and the ornamental cypress. To ensure they have the best of the variety they partner with like-minded artisans in Kisii, Muranga and Kisumu.

“God says He will bless the work of your hands,” Margaret speaks of her faith as the grounding factor through good and bad times in the business. The dry seasons can prove difficult but the Christmas spirit tends to boost their sales.

Margaret and Terry grew up in the Central Highlands of Nyeri where they schooled up until secondary school. They moved to Nairobi in search of greener pastures. Even with all the highlands around them, money and urban life became the determiner of one’s ability to survive. “Our parents raised us to be content even if we lived in poverty; but we want better for our children,” said Terry.

Future in the industry?

We wait and see how it will be once the roadworks is complete.

What does it take to succeed in the Jua Kali sector?

Contentment and to enjoy the work one does.

Find Margaret on +254 726 118 279

KALEB AKUMU – I MAKE JIKOS, SUITCASES, FRYING PANS – NAME IT!

Kaleb finished secondary school at age 18 in Homabay and immediately moved to Nairobi to join his brother as a tradesman making the Kenyan stoves known as  jikos, steel suitcases known as boxes – commonly used by school going children in boarding schools – and other items on demand. He started by working for his brother as he built his skills and learned the ropes of the trade. Kaleb now owns a trade in Kibera, just behind the famous Toi Market, known for its second hand clothing items in the latest fashion trends flown from Europe, Australia and the United States.

The Jua Kali sector is a highly collaborative industry. Kaleb sources the clay from a certain mama and other materials all the way from Mombasa.

From his trade he is raising his three children whom he speaks of very fondly, “My girls are 7 and 2 and my boy is 12.”

His customers include supermarkets, people from the local community and retailers. To share his entrepreneurial gift, he trains young men from his homestead and the children of family and friends who have made requests.

“The process of designing a products starts with drawing the patterns, then making the body,” Kaleb explains. The clay part of the jikos (clay mixed with a little cement) are made separately then mounted on the steel frame once it is dry. Red oxide is used to beautify the jiko and the steel frame painted, usually in black.

The costs of the jikos based on size range from Ksh 200 to 600 on average and can last up to three years for domestic use. Whereas the steel suitcases known as boxes could cost up to Ksh 2,500.

Future in the industry?

To have a bigger workshop, train more youth, educate my children beyond where I reached. Also, easier access to capital for us to be able to grow our businesses. I know I can make much more. For example, wheelbarrows require a higher investment.

For Kenya, Kaleb hopes for tribal politics to stop so that people from all backgrounds can feel free to comfortably do business with each other among the Jua Kali sector.

What does it take to succeed in the Jua Kali sector?

You have to be happy to do it well. I believe in God and what I am doing.

Find Kaleb on  +254 721 868 019

Images by @ojwokphotography

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