Success stories, amazing as they may sound, are never limited to a specific gender. They are attainable by anyone with a vision and a relentless drive to achieve their goals no matter what set backs they face. They constantly place themselves in the right circle of friends and follow their dreams till they find true fulfillment.
This story springs hope for entrepreneurial African women and shows that the right business model coupled with a great effort, dedication, and a strong team behind you can make anything happen. The case of Njeri Rionge Hogan, a Kenyan tech entrepreneur who has shown that anything is possible if you believe and stay true to your dreams.
After many years of founding small scale enterprises, Njeri took the leap of faith and channelled her passion for selling and creating new businesses to co-found an Internet Service Provider call Wananchi Online in the year 2000, with the aim of making internet connectivity affordable for households in Kenya for the very first time.
A hustler as she was, Njeri was eventually able to raise a substantial sum of money to the tune of $500,000 from investors. After an excellent run, this investment followed up with an additional funding of $3,000,000, till she had raised up to $238,000,000 in funding from various investors.
An excellent networking skill and entrepreneurial drive helped Njeri Rionge Hogan to start Wananchi Online from a small scale till she was able to grow it into the multinational behemoth that it is today.
Her passion, intelligence, and serial success, caused many individuals and investors to completely believe in her. They trusted both her and her actions to the point that they started risking millions of US dollars in investment in her companies.
Conclusively, today Wananchi has gone on to become East Africa’s largest provider of PayTv, broadband internet and VoIP services. She also runs a highly successful consulting firm with locations in Kenya and Canada, called Ignite Consulting, and is an inspiration to many African women entrepreneurs.