PIC CAPTION: Nzambi Matee, founder and CEO at Gjenge Makers is delighted at how her company is making a difference to Kenya's alternative building materials industry with their sustainable plastic pavers. Image: Supplied / Gjenge Makers
The adage, ‘waste not, want not’ and sustainability go together as people worldwide look at unique, innovative ways to embrace, build and promote sustainable measures within their businesses. Gjenge Makers, a female founded plastic recycling company operating in Africa’s green economy and sustainable sector is no exception. Founder and CEO Nzambi Matee speaks to AfricArena’s Jabulile Sonya Ngwenya about the driving passion behind Gjenge Maker’s success.
We’re passionate about seeing the next generation rise up and succeed, Matee tells AfricArena. The reason for this, she says, is that there are many transformative ideas and fresh perspectives among the youth known as Generation Z that are catapulting Africa’s growth engines into high-performance gears and powering the continent forward into a prosperous age. Her startup’s flagship product, Gjenge pavers is just one instance of how Generation Z is powering sustainable ideas from ideation to finished product as the average age of employees working in this startup is 24 years old.
While many seasoned professionals with plenty of skin in the entrepreneurial game may find working with Generation Z employees challenging, leading the next generation of leaders comes easily to Matee who is just a few years older than most of her team.
It’s all about understanding what drives them, and acknowledging them as a powerful customer base, making up 40% of the world’s consumers with $450 billion in spending power, Matee says. In addition to this, she notes that what makes them a force to be reckoned with is that they are the first digital generation who grew up immersed in technology as a way of life, understanding how to forge new ground in an increasingly tech-driven world.
When we created our flagship Gjenge pavers, made from recycled pavers, we quickly discovered that we had a winner on our hands, Matee says. “Gjenge pavers are an alternative solution to traditional concrete paving blocks. Our products are made from recycled plastic waste and beat notions about alternative products being inferior to traditional construction materials. Our pavers are up to five times stronger than concrete pavers, offering a more diverse and aesthetically pleasing colour scheme while being at competitive market rates.”
Matee, who is a qualified mechanical engineer, environmentalist, hardware designer, inventor and serial entrepreneur says creating these strong, beautiful formidable pavers made from cement and polymer concrete did not happen overnight. “It took quite a while, some experimentation and several iterations to get the product right,” she says.
The idea materialized when Matee decided to take a break from work and go on a vacation along the beautiful Kenyan coast. But calling it beautiful is far from her thoughts as she recalls what she discovered on her journey - a plastic-filled ocean that propelled her to do something about it. “I was overwhelmed with the amount of plastic in the ocean and this sparked a fire in me to do something about the plastic waste in my country.”
She did not flinch at the seemingly ginormous task ahead of her. She got to work, rolled up her sleeves and spearheaded a plastic collection and recycling drive in 2017 that was the beginning of Gjenge Makers. From fledgling beginnings Gjenge Makers quickly grew, and she laughs, “we soon had a challenge storing the plastic, which prompted us to find a solution that would solve this challenge.”
The solution was found in Kenya’s housing crisis in the informal settlement areas. “That was our answer, and with that, we boldly ventured into the construction field.” It didn’t bother Matee that women are underrepresented in a male-dominated industry as she saw an opportunity to challenge the status quo and bring about much needed change.
“Our pavers have provided a wonderful learning opportunity for us as an alternative construction company making plastic composite products and we're ready to diversify our portfolio,” she tells AfricArena. It is clear that Gjenge Makers is not going away anytime soon as their pavers are revolutionizing East Africa’s alternative building materials industry.
“We are passionate about what we do because our solution tackles multiple problems at once. We're solving the global plastic pollution challenge while creating alternative building products that are superior to what is currently available in the market,” Matee shares. “We are inspiring others to find innovative ways to deal with challenges that are around them. Whenever we tell someone the composition of our product, the curiosity, delight, and wonder in their eyes is always priceless.”
Excited about winning the AfricArena Best Circular Economy Startup at the AfricArena Nairobi Summit in September, Matee says it has made a difference to her startup. “Winning the pitching contest in the Best Circular Economy Award has encouraged us to spread knowledge on how necessary and useful alternative building products are to the market. The pitch helped us to gain traction in new audiences who were unfamiliar with such existing solutions. We hope to ignite the fire in more entrepreneurs to venture into this space and come up with creative ways to sustainable business practices.”
It hasn’t always been easy sailing for Matee and her team who have recently had to reject some projects due to a high demand for orders that outstripped their current production capacity and tight deadlines. “It's heartbreaking to have to do this, but very encouraging at the same time as it proves there is a demand in the market for our product,” says Matee.
After six years of being in business, Matee says, “on a brighter note, we have recently, as of last year, broken even in terms of cash flow.” This has made the adventure worthwhile, she says as “we launched before lockdown, with an initial investment of $11,229 which came from family and friends and which we used to build our first prototype.”
Matee tells AfricArena that the largest amount of funds she has raised was $79,802 which was used to build their production machines. This year, she shares that they have their sights set on higher targets. “We are in our seed round and we're targeting $1 million by the end of next year. These funds will be used for capex, prototyping and setting up new machines for new product lines. We will finally have a budget for research and development which is something we have always done conservatively due to budget constraints. Additionally, we will set up multiple material recovery facilities, to not only increase our plastic intake, but also increase our impact in terms of livelihoods improved and waste collected.”
Matee who leads by example and walks the talk with her team usually starts her mornings with hands-on problem solving with her team at the Gjenge Makers workshop where she checks on the production of their recycled pavers, discusses innovations with her team or works with the company’s partners.
“On any given day, my focus is on ensuring that every aspect of our work contributes to sustainability,” Matee says. “I often spend time connecting with chief business officers, manufacturers, and other plastic stakeholders to strengthen our value chain. In between, I dedicate time to research and development, experimenting with new ways to recycle plastic waste into more durable and eco-friendly materials. Afternoons are typically filled with meetings with colleagues, stakeholders, or investors, where I share our progress and discuss future plans for scaling our operations. In the evenings, I reflect on the challenges of the day and think about how we can continue innovating to solve environmental issues. Every day is a step forward toward a more innovative future.”
The secret to longevity in this industry, says Matee, is to understand that “our work isn’t just about business; it’s about making a real impact.”
“Starting a business is not for the faint hearted, given the numerous uphill tasks often facing a small startup,” she says. “Our biggest challenge, as with many startups, has been facing numerous cash crunches. The challenge of keeping your team motivated without the necessary working resources or late remunerations is not something easy. However, by constantly reminding them of our shared vision and the mission we are undertaking, we get creative and find even more innovative ways to circumnavigate these challenges.”
The funding winter, she says, toughed up her startup’s communication muscles as they deployed stronger community engagement and a deeper focus on impact tactics to ensure they thrived. “We leaned on our strong community connections by strengthening partnerships with local aggregators and recyclers. By increasing local collaboration, we were able to secure a steady stream of raw materials at lower costs; by focusing intentionally on impact with investors increasingly looking for impactful projects during tough times, we highlighted our environmental and social impact and we sourced alternative funding sources such as grants and partnerships with NGOs.”
Matee says simply by being proactive through “showcasing the positive outcomes of our operations — reducing plastic waste, creating jobs, and contributing to a circular economy — we attracted funding from impact investors who prioritize sustainability.”
While musing upon future plans for her startup, Matee shares the best advise a mentor gave her, which was to "embrace failure as a stepping stone to success."
“My mentor emphasized that failure is not a setback, but rather a crucial part of the learning process. Each mistake or challenge is an opportunity to gain insight, refine skills, and ultimately build resilience. Instead of avoiding failure, face it head-on, analyze what went wrong, and use that knowledge to improve. This advice has helped me approach challenges with a growth mindset, transforming obstacles into valuable learning experiences.”
Looking to the future, she says she wants to scale up Gjenge Makers’ operations to uptake more waste materials and come up with more creative product lines. Our country still has tons of waste that continues to fill up the dumpsite on a daily basis. Within these sites are potential to bring decent work and a clean environment for us all. Additionally, since we have a working formula, we are looking to scale to other countries to help them create impact in their local communities, starting with Africa and slowly to the rest of the world.”
Matee is one to watch as she focuses on making her vision a reality. Her advice to founders operating in the circular economy is to stay focused, and have a clear north star for “it’s easy to give up in the face of challenges but your vision becomes your source of strength during this period. The bigger and more challenging your vision, the harder you will be pulled towards looking for innovative ways to reach it. Additionally, adopt the learning gene and take every experience with a positive attitude.”
For more information about AfricArena and our upcoming events, visit our website at www.africarena.com
Comments