Stories Of Successful Entrepreneurs

Kenyan serial entrepreneur Njeri Rionge believes that Africa is the next economic frontier, and is passionate about contributing to the continent reaching its full potential.

 Rionge’s first business venture, when she was nineteen years old, was the sale of yoghurt at local schools. Next she worked as a hairdresser, buying and selling luxury imported clothing at the same time. “I touched many things before I touched the thing that turned to gold,” she tells bbc.co.uk.

The thing that turned to gold for Rionge was Wananchi Online, which she founded in Kenya in 2000 as East Africa’s first mass-market internet service provider with the aim of making internet connectivity affordable for all. “Our industry is probably one of the few mediums that can actually bridge the gap between the poor and the rich in our economy,” Rionge tells afrimind.org. Now known as Wananchi Group, the venture is today the region’s leading cable, broadband, and internet-based telephony company, worth nearly two hundred million dollars.

Rionge believes that the vocational courses she has completed have provided her with a wide range of skills, resourcefulness, and versatility. “If you ask me to do a business plan I can do it; if you ask me to be a systems administrator for the technological back-end of my business infrastructure, I will do that,” she says. “And if you ask me to be the creative person, I will do that too.”

Next she launched business consultancy Ignite, which expanded into health care with Ignite Lifestyle, and into digital marketing with Insite. “I build organisations and then hand them over to a CEO or managing director to run – that is my type of entrepreneurship

Kenya’s leading start-up incubator, Business Lounge, is another of Rionge’s initiatives, and the one through which she provides a space for other entrepreneurs to bring ideas, brainstorm, network, find funding, and develop their ideas into thriving businesses . Vision and implementation, she believes, are basic to growing a culture of sustainable entrepreneurship. “Taking an idea that’s on paper or in your head and moving it forward into real, tangible action is the true spirit of entrepreneurship,” she says. “And entrepreneurship is what is going to build Africa.”

Africa, she says, is the next economic frontier. “There is huge potential in Africa,” she tells howwemadeitinafrica.com. “Let’s create a work culture; let’s have integrity in our processes; let’s be passionate about doing it right the first time, and Africa will enjoy the fruits of our labour.”

Like all entrepreneurs, Rionge has had challenges to overcome along the way, but believes it’s important not to place too much focus on problems. “I have no time to think about challenges,” she says. “When they come I try to solve them quickly and get over it. Because I convert them, they stop being challenges. I have been at many points where the cookie was about to crumble, but my focus was that it cannot crumble, and therefore I concentrate on upwards and onwards.”

And what advice would she give aspiring entrepreneurs? “It’s like learning to ride a bike or driving a car,” Rionge tells forbes.com. “You need to believe in yourself, trust your gut feeling, and develop a clear plan or strategy. Keep it simple, and implement that plan step-by-step with courage, conviction, and love above all. Be open-minded and flexible to change course when needed, and listen to your customers.”

This proudly-African innovator is an inspiring role model for entrepreneurs everywhere.