‘JungleNut’ Spells Out His Vision For Thika And Kenya At Large.
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| Wainaina in an earlier event cutting the tape to officially open the 2016 Thika Business Trade Fair. Looking on is Madam Chania (extreme right) and MC Sam (in white shirt). |
Addressing the members of press after meeting several young
and upcoming entrepreneurs, Patrick Wainaina (Wainaina Wa Jungle – WWJ) argued
that even though young people constituted of more than half the country’s population
and played a leading role in protests organised by the political leaders, it
was quite unfortunate there was very little in the way of economic opportunity
for them.
He said that his 12 years in Thika’s entrepreneurship industry
had taught him a lot that would propel our people to prosperity and
self-dependent. During all this time, JF sat with these young entrepreneurs,
listening to their ideas and helping them create business plans and
presentations that address their ideas in the aim of fulfilling the market
demand.
“After seeing so many young people waste away for years due
to lack of proper leadership and mentorship, I decided to take the
responsibility to mentor and guide young people into self-reliance and empowerment
through Jungle Foundation (JF). We started fostering a corporate culture of
independent and dynamic young men and women as a way of harnessing the
entrepreneurial drive and creativity necessary to promote business growth. We wanted
to inculcate this virtuous cycle of gritty, creative and motivated young people
who can help today’s business grow and create the companies of tomorrow,” said
Wainaina who is the proprietor of Jungle Nut Ltd and C.E.O. Jungle Foundation.
One thing that the foundation found out was that business
startups had difficulty in accessing funds due to the high bank interest rates as
well as the complexity in acquiring these loans. And this is where, according
to Wainaina, leadership comes in.
“In this modern economy, the need for world-class leaders
grows every minute. Leadership is so much more than a title and its more than
just management. It is about developing future leaders. We have had so many
leaders in this region but none of them ever comes up with programmes that
sincerely gear towards poverty eradication. Al we see is short-term programmes
which are not well thought of and aimed at scoring some political mileage. We
are in a time where affordable and accessible loans are the way to go. We are
in that stage where we need to empower our people with the right skills and
knowledge to be self-reliant. Today’s teens and young adults need more avenues
to make legitimate streams of income. They need it now more than ever,” he
said.
Jungle Foundation partners with various groups of people to
create employment, especially in the informal sector with the aim of empowering
the youth and the society in general. Under their three pillars; education,
health and environment, the foundation is working out on ways to empower the
people through imparting of knowledge and skills, empowering startups through
very affordable and easy to access loans as well as creating employment through
cleaning the environment.
In education, JF was investing in the improvement of schools’
infrastructure as well as motivating the learners, teachers and other
stakeholders into better performance in both formal and informal education.
Wainaina argued that the kids in public schools possessed the same talents and
intelligence as their counterparts in the private schools and it was only a
matter of identifying the right investments that would overturn the dominance
of academies in national examinations.
JF has constructed several waste collection points in
various estates where the waste is separated and used to create employment. The
organic waste is developed into fertiliser, as the waste paper is recycled to
create paper for making books and other stationary as the plastic bags are used
to make very comfortable pillows.
In the health sector,
JF has partnered with the county government though employing qualified nurse
assistants in Thika Level 5 Hospital who assist the regular nurses and doctors
to care for the sick.
“In Jungle Foundation, there is everything for everyone.
Right now we have a very new product called ‘J-Hela’ which is
basically a SACCO based on your mobile phone. If the investment you endeavour
to start will create a job, we will loan you for zero interest. Any other loans
will just attract a 6% Annual Interest. So, even if you aren’t creating jobs,
we still have a great package for you,” he said.
He argued that the poverty levels that was being witnessed
in the society was a sign of failed leadership and this was the reason why he
thought of plunging himself into politics, to seek a bigger arena to help more
young people. Wainaina said that an empowered society guaranteed security to
everyone as the majority of its people would be busy creating wealth rather that
engaging in crime for a living.
Wainaina encouraged Kenyans to promote local investments by
buying Kenyan goods by choice and empowering young entrepreneurs in their
endeavour to create jobs for themselves and others. He said that Kenyans had to
make a concerted effort to support the Jua Kali Sector as this was the heart of
growth in the country.
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