A quiet revolution is brewing in the fight against energy poverty and climate change, and its engine is an unexpected one: a microfinance loan. While major corporations pledge distant net-zero goals, one lender, Jawabu Biashara, is making a tangible impact today. By designing a specialized loan product for Biogas digestors, they are turning communities into active participants in the green economy.
Business Insights Africa talked to Mr. Charles Njoroge, Managing Director, Jawabu Biashara, to understand their winning concept.
How has Jawabu Biashara evolved from its early days to become a formidable player in the microfinance industry in Kenya?
Seven years ago, specifically in Githurai, we stablished our first office that doubled as our head office. From that humble beginnings, today we operate in over 11 counties and we offer a buffet of financial solutions. Jawabu Biashara name defines our business mandate in Kenya, to be a solution to the very many micro-entrepreneurs who operate micro and small enterprises that dot every part of Kenya. We remain guided by our vision, to be a market leader and a partner of choice in the provision of innovative and profitable customer focused financial solutions in Kenya. This is a huge mandate, but one we are equal to the task.
Our past, and indeed our future growth is anchored on charting an organization path that walks on innovation and partnerships. As an institution, we have built a team that believes in our bigger picture, if we are to deliver our brand promise of Finance, Empower and transform. This way we have been able to manage the challenges that come our way with confidence. We have also taken our business lessons along the way, and we remain hopeful the future can only be better.
What are some of the proudest achievements of Jawabu Biashara over the years?
Jawabu Biashara, like many other business corporates has had its good days and challenging days as well. Some of the achievements we have had, and many a times other institutions may have taken it for granted is to survive covid-19. From an institutional point of view this was the most difficult period in the life of Jawabu Biashara, yet when I look back, its the moment when resilience of the organization got tested.
While some of our peers have struggled to raise themselves up, we have dusted ourselves, taken our lessons and moved on. Further, we have been able to retain staff, deliver scale, expanded to eleven counties over the period and executed more innovative solutions, giving Jawabu Biashara that inner drive to thrive despite the very many odds we find on our way.
As MD, how have you worked to preserve Jawabu Biashara’s legacy while driving modernization?
First, I have passion for what I do. I like what I do, and every day is an improvement of yesterday. The moment I listen to a customer say, how grateful he|she is for the funding support he received from Jawabu and shares his|her journey of success due to our intervention, that’s it for me. Further when certain facts confront me like – Over 90% of rural households in Kenya use firewood for cooking, they rely majorly on 3-stone cook stoves because they are cheap to assemble and operate, this resonates well with my past. You ask yourself, what can you do to change this? At the same time, you gather millions of Kenyans, especially women and children are exposed to harmful smoke from traditional cooking methods, then this speaks to you as well. Further, you gather that the long term health effects, which include respiratory illnesses are devastating rural families , with over 20,000 deaths attributed to indoor air pollution each year in Kenya – can something be done?
This is where Jawabu Biashara comes in with its clean cooking solutions. We are able to remove households from harmful smoke and respiratory deaths through access to affordable credit for clean cooking. This brings to life why an institution like Jawabu exists. We work for a good bottom line, just like any one else, but we are proud to say we deliver impact, we deliver over 9 of the 17 UN SDGs ( sustainable development goals) and this fits well to our brand promise of Finance , Empower and Transform.
Beyond this, its also very clear in the entire microfinance space, that you cannot wish away technology and digitization. The challenge though, is that it’s expensive.
Finally, the question that bothers me and every other executive every minute of the day is – What can we do today to remain relevant not only today, but also tomorrow? Sustaining business relevance and understanding how to identify what matters, filtering out distractions, and connecting information or actions to objectives for better problem-solving and decision-making is the new norm in a fast paced industry like the one Jawabu Biashara is in.
How do you ensure that the institution’s culture remains client-centric and innovative amid industry disruptions?
Peter Drucker, an influential thinker and author on management talks of corporate culture as , “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Every business success or failure many a time is anchored on its corporate culture. Its usually very fragile and needs to be managed with utmost attention. Corporate culture defines a company’s identity and indeed shapes the work environment. The secret though is how the institution engages with itself, the level of team engagement and team work and how the institution is aligned to the strategy as it monitors the market dynamism. This is a tough one for any corporate leader, but as slippery as it is, it’s the reason why agile entities thrive. From where I sit, it’s the reason I report to work every morning.
What’s going on in the microfinance sector and what makes Jawabu stand out in Kenya’s crowded microfinance space?
The Microfinance industry in Kenya is very competitive, innovative and ever evolving. I would imagine its fast paced abit more than many other sectors of the economy. At the same time, its an industry with many players some very strong from a bottom line point of view, foreign owned and many locally owned as well.
It’s a very dynamic industry going through a lot of disruptions including regulation coupled with funding constraints. Its an industry that depicts what survival for the fittest is all about.
But again, it’s also an industry that thrives through sheer hard work, Innovation, strategy and with a huge dose of trust from staff, customers, funders and regulator. Jawabu Biashara is a proactive lender who upholds innovation and genuinely seeks to deliver impact with its financial solutions. Beyond this we also give back to the community, by supporting their communally owned entities such as schools.
What lessons can Jawabu Biashara share with younger entrepreneurs and businesspeople looking to build long-term success?
Success is a journey and is not an abracadabra moment. Success does not happen overnight and requires focus and patience. There is huge potential for entrepreneurship in Kenya, but a bigger portion of them face many common business challenges such as limited access to capital, inadequate business management skills, lack of mentorship and also the education system may not be preparing many of them on what is ahead of them. Many of them get to entrepreneurship for lack of an alternative, especially formal work. Mentorship is what is urgently needed as it psychologically prepares someone for the heartaches of business and confers discipline that many new entrepreneurs majorly lack. Only, when this is sorted can we talk of access to capital. Access to capital resonates well with a psychologically prepared entrepreneur.
But entrepreneurship needs boldness of action, taking calculated risk and that inner faith that success will happen, what come may. Quoting Vincent Van Gogh “ Fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient to keep them ashore”.
Where do you see Jawabu Biashara in the next decade, especially with increasing competition and tech disruption?
Our vision defines our longevity in the Kenyan market. Every day, in Jawabu we ask ourselves what are we doing to ensure we become the partner of choice to the customers that we serve and all the other stakeholders we work with. We are privy to the fact that competition will not cease and the earlier we accept it as a way of life, the better we respond to it. Technology disruptions will be the in-thing. Bigger players will come and distort the market to their advantage, but then in our own small way we shall disrupt the market in our own way. We shall ensure we deliver need based financial solutions, we shall anchor our future on business innovation and technology and we shall serve the customer with diligence.
Are there plans for regional expansion, new product lines, or digital transformation to future-proof the institution?
Absolutely! Scale and digital engagement fits very well to our strategic direction to not only offer branch-less expansion, but occasionally anchor some brick and mortar expansion based on an in-house expansion criteria.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of leading Jawabu Biz?
The progress Jawabu Biashara has made to date is phenomenal. We offer a buffet of financial solutions that meet our agenda of delivering customers need for social and economic transformation. Our business name, Jawabu in Kiswahili translates to “solution or an answer” and that’s what we strive to offer innovatively in the Kenyan market. Over the years, we have increased our outreach to eleven counties, we work with many farmers especially in SDG#7 – Affordable and clean energy. The clean cooking space, especially the roll out of Biodigestor credit has in many ways brought healthy cooking alternative to our customers, improved on forest cover protection and ensured there is uptake of organic farming via production of Bioslurry. Jawabu also has solutions that address SDG#6 – Clean water and sanitation, whose benefit include water storage, ensuring sustainable use of rain water and ensuring consistent water supply to families.
What message do you have for clients, employees, and stakeholders who have been part of Jawabu Biashara’s journey?
To all our stakeholders – Please know we value the partnership and you have a solid partner in Jawabu Biashara, At Jawabu Biashara we are committed to mutual success.
