Nancy Muriithi #SheHacks2026

Building a tech company in Kenya will teach you patience, resilience, and possibly the meaning of suffering. A Kenyan will spend KSh 1,500 monthly on foreign software without blinking. But charge KSh 500 for a locally built product that solves an actual problem, and suddenly you’re being investigated by the Central Bank. “Mbona nilipie? Kuna free version?” You give them a free version. “Mbona hii feature iko locked?” You explain that developing software costs money. “Lakini wewe si ulifanya na AI?” Apparently, AI means developers no longer need to pay for electricity, internet, servers, or food. The funny thing is that we complain about Kenya importing technology, yet we often make it difficult for local tech companies to survive. We want world-class products built in Kenya, but we expect Kenyan founders to fund them out of their own pockets while customers negotiate every shilling. And here’s the irony: the same people who refuse to pay KSh 500 for a Kenyan product will happily recommend that product to 50 friends once it becomes successful. We celebrate the success story but rarely support the struggle that made it possible. Of course, local founders must build products worth paying for. Quality, reliability, and trust matter. But customers also have a role to play. If we want globally competitive African technology companies, we need more than hackathons, startup competitions, and motivational speeches. We need paying customers. Because innovation doesn’t scale on applause. It scales when people are willing to pay for value. Maybe the question isn’t just why Kenya isn’t building enough global tech giants. Maybe we should also ask whether we’re willing to pay for the ones we’re building.