Successful Businesswomen In Kenya

Kenya is a vibrant and exciting environment to be a female entrepreneur. It has evolved into a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship. It is dubbed the East African Silicon Valley. Kenya is a global leader in mobile money systems such as M-Pesa; and it has a long history of highly creative brand builders delivering world-class ideas, concepts, and products that the rest of the world adores. It also has a deeply entrenched entrepreneurial spirit, and it is women entrepreneurs who are carrying that spirit to new heights.

As part of our ongoing celebration of women history month we look at the contributions made by Kenyan women to business and society. We’ve compiled a list of women who have founded and run successful enterprises and corporations. Some of the people on the list have pursued male-dominated fields and found a niche and success.

Tabitha Karanja,  Founder and CEO: Keroche Breweries

Tabitha has broken into a market dominated by corporations for almost half a century. The most notable is Diageo’s EABL. Tabitha shattered the mold by becoming Kenya’s first beer and alcoholic beverages home brewer. Her company’s cutting-edge production plant now aims to capture 20% of the Kenyan market. Tabitha and Keroche Industries have faced various challenges throughout their 22-year journey, including monopolies, industry skeptics, and excessive taxing, while building a Kenyan business success story in a male-dominated field.

Suzie Wokabi, Founder and CEO of Suzie Beauty cosmetic company

Suzie Wokabi is the CEO and founder of Suzie Beauty, a cosmetics company with an International Relations degree. Suzie returned to Kenya in 2007 to realize her dream of creating a genuine, inexpensive, and high-quality African cosmetics line.

This ground-breaking line is Kenya’s first make-up/beauty company and a global trendsetter in developing a personalized brand for the African woman by an African woman. Suzie went straight into the fashion industry after graduating from university in the United States. She received training from MAC Cosmetics and went to the Award Studio Make-up School in Los Angeles to finish an intense Media Make-up certificate course.

 Linet Kwamboka, Founder and CEO of Data Science Ltd

Linet is the proprietor and CEO of Data Science Ltd, a data analysis and research company based in Kenya that focuses on assisting local private and public (Enterprise, Government, and CSO/NGO) businesses in better understanding and utilizing existing and new data to gain insights for better planning, resource allocation, and profit maximization. Linet graduated from the University of Nairobi with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and is self-taught in geographic information systems (GIS), data analysis, and mining. The American Embassy in Kenya has named her an unsung hero to inspire more women to pursue careers in technology and computer science.

Lucy Kapkirwok, Founder of SanPad Products

Lucy Kapkirwok is a Kenyan social entrepreneur who offers a low-cost, innovative solution to menstrual hygiene in low-income communities. SANPAD is a sanitary pad-pant company that is a creative, low-cost project aiming at producing efficient and cost-effective sanitary pads cum pants to meet the requirements of females in resource-poor areas. It aims to increase women’s and girls’ access to safe and clean menstruation management methods while also addressing their reproductive health requirements. The pad-pant is a two-in-one disposable product that will be helpful for females in a variety of development scenarios.

Megan MacDonald, Founder of SASA Designs by the Deaf

Megan MacDonald is an inspiring social entrepreneur who founded Sasa Designs by the Deaf to provide deaf women artisans in Kenya with economic independence and a bright future. Life can be difficult for deaf women in Africa, with minor prospects for employment and independence. However, by giving meaningful jobs, training, and a sense of community, as well as the capacity to support their children and their education, this tenacious social entrepreneur is bringing real and lasting change to these women.

Gloria Michelle Otieno,  Founder, Recours Four Kenya

Gloria is the creator of the human resource consulting firm Recours Four Kenya. Gloria’s expertise in HR Consultancy, Talent Acquisition, Workplace Diversity, and Corporate Governance stems from her ten years in the industry.

She was named one of Forbes Africa’s Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 35 to Watch in Africa and received the Business Excellence Award Certificate from the World Confederation of Business in the United States.

Jyoti Mukherjee,  CEO: Software Technologies Limited

After relocating to Kenya from India in the 1980s, Jyoti Mukherjee founded printing supplies firm in Nairobi with her husband. She founded Software Technologies Limited (STL) in 1991, which is now one of Africa’s most significant software distribution enterprises, with annual sales in the hundreds of millions of Kenyan shillings. STL now has over 150 clients across east Africa, making Mukherjee one of the only women in the region to have created and run a large technology company.

Mukherjee has led STL from humble beginnings with only five people to one of Eastern Africa’s major software houses, with operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, India, and the United Arab Emirates.

Joanne Mwangi,  Founder and CEO: PMS Group

Mwangi created Professional Marketing Services (PMS) sixteen years ago, and the company now has five subsidiaries and a presence throughout East Africa. Joanne has grown the PMS Group from a tiny firm to a significant marketing conglomerate that offers a variety of services, including marketing, corporate communications, event planning, sales promotion, consumer promotions, trade merchandising, and marketing strategy creation. Reckitt Benckiser, Prigat, Airbus, and East African Breweries are among the clientele of PMS, which has increased in size over the years (EABL).

Michelle Ntalami, Founder of Marini Naturals 

Marini Naturals is a Kenyan-owned natural hair care line that celebrates natural kinks and curls. Entrepreneur Michelle Ntalami founded the business to create a hair care product line that draws inspiration and ingredients from nature while allowing beauty-conscious women to show off their naturally curly hair. Marini Naturals is Kenya’s first hair care product line created by African women, for African women, with natural and afro-textured hair. Sulfate-free Shampoo (first in Kenya and East Africa), Detangling Leave-In Conditioner, Curling Butter, Curling Gel, Moisturizing Spritz, and a Potent Hair Growth Oil are among the company’s products.