A renowned businesswoman for yams in Busia town has broadened her network from a small-scale retailer to an intercountry exporter shortly after the government launched free public WiFi in Busia town.
The 44-year-old Catherine Njoki has built a name for herself in an online yam export business outside Busia town in the past three years but her business boomed when she decided to try an online market.
From a capital of sh.10,000 three years ago, now Njoki can place orders of up to 200,000 from different farmers.
Njoki, who sources her yams from farmers within Busia county and also neighboring counties of Uganda based on the number of tonnes she receives from her clients, has created a vast range of employment to both locals and transporters.
“I ventured into this business during covid-19 pandemic, even though at that time, business was down and I could only get customers from Busia,” she said.
Njoki ventured into the yam business as a side hustle as she already had a pig farm which was doing well at Angorom Village in Teso South a few kilometers from Busia town.
“I decided to take a risk by investing only sh.10000 to yams purposely as a retailer to supplement my main hustle of pig rearing,” Njoki narrated to KNA.
“I started receiving orders from hotels and a few hospitals as they trusted the quality of my produce in the market,” she added.
Within a short time, she started employing workers to help her pack the produce ready for supply to Nairobi and Kisumu where she was receiving huge order deals.
A 90kg bag of yam retail between sh.10,000 and 15000 depending on the size of the yam with just one piece of yam going for sh.100.
With the increase in demand, Njoki thought of partnering with other businessmen in the transport sector to aid her in achieving her dream of ensuring the product is delivered within 24 hours.
“I gained a lot of trust from the farmers who supplied their yams as I could pay them on time. Also, I was able to satisfy my clients with the quality and timely supply,” noted Njoki.
Shortly after the government rolled out free public WiFi, Njoki thought of trying an online market to try and capitalize on the high number of internet consumers to market her yams.
According to the CS ICT Eluid Owalo, the public WiFi spots are part of the Kenya Kwanza government’s digitalization plan, to help the youth engage in e-commerce.
“The public WiFi is part of the Kenya Kwanza Government’s Digitalization Plan, emanating from President William Ruto’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), to enable the youth and market traders at the bottom of the economic pyramid to access the Internet and engage in e-Commerce,” said the CS Owalo during the launch of Busia stage WiFi.
Now Njoki can sit at her open stall near the bus stage and receive or dispatch orders from her customers across the country.
“I also decided to go digital to match the bottom-up economy which is digital in nature,” she narrated.
President William Ruto in his manifesto promised to roll out 25,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots to markets to create jobs to over 5 million jobless Kenyans both on local market or internationally.
Njoki is now a testimony of the digital transformative agenda by the Kenya Kwanza government as she has been able to employ over 20 youths who pack and transport yams to different parts.
Not only does she employ packers and transporters, but she has also transformed the lives of many farmers from Busia Kenya and Uganda as they now have hope for the market of their farm produce.
‘Mama Nduma’ as they call her at the stage, remains hopeful that one day she will supply her products to the statehouse to the head of state.
Njoki business is a game changer to both county and national governments in their fight against smuggling which has deprived the government of billions from vendors who opt to use porous routes to avert paying taxes.
“I want to challenge women in Busia to take advantage of proximity to the border to widen their market,” she said.
Like other businesses, she faces the challenge of online bullying where some customers just place orders for fun.
Now Njoki has expanded her business and not only does she sell yams, she has added cassava and pig business which she usually had ventured in.
President William Ruto during his Mashujaa Day national address announced plans to lay an additional 100,000 kilometers of national fiber optic in the course of his five-year term in efforts aimed at speeding up internet connectivity across the country.
By Absalom Namwalo
