Jua Kali Businesses in Nairobi, Kenya
If you’re unfamiliar with the term “git er done,” you can read what it means right here.
What is a Jua Kali?
The literal translation of Jua Kali in Kenyan Kiswahili is “fierce sun“; the actually meaning is the Kenyan word for “git er done,” or a person, businessman, or entrepreneur that can undoubtedly fix or practically do anything upon request.
Under the beating rays of the equatorial sunshine, shaded by plastic bags or at best beneath an antique sheet of mabati (tin roofing), jua kali entrepreneurs make it their mission to keep things alive and working.
Their modest offices are on the sides of muddy streets, many within the labyrinth of slum districts like Kibera or Dandora of Nairobi, Kenya.
Jua kali’s are street doctors, keeping things alive and working.
Jua Kali Mechanics from Above
Jua Kali Creativity
The realm of creativity reaches to the ends of the earth.
Have a petrol leak on your car? That can be patched up by rubbing a bar of soap on the wound until it plugs up.
Did your 99 cent flip flops break at the toe? Don’t throw them away, they can be fixed by a jua kali.
Have some items of junk that are undeniably useless to anyone? Think again, if a jua kali can’t eventually find a way to get it working, he will surely use it to aid in fixing another thing.
Quality Work?
Along with the positive benefits one can derive from the use of cheap jua kali labor, it’s not always fun and games.
Some jua kali goals are to repair or create for the short term benefit of the user, NOT necessarily for long term sustainability.
Masters of jury rigging, jua kali work is notorious for looking great, and then falling apart the moment you get a little ways from the workshop.
Jua Kali Tire Repair in Kakuma, Kenya
There’s no legal contract involved when seeking street expertise, no guarantee or warranty that things will actually function. Jua kali’s offer solutions to problems — often at rock bottom prices.
With a Kenyan economy that can’t support jobs for the entire population, there’s a giant informal sector of expertise, the jua kali field.
Where professional education is scarce, expert niche experience and hands on learning is what takes over.
Throughout Kenya there are millions of jua kali business owners, in the city of Nairobi alone there is an estimate of well over 500,000 self employed jua kali experts in all forms of imaginable fields.
How Does the Jua Kali Sector Financially Churn?
It’s one of the African cultural values that is the most powerful: community and the high value of others.
Mary Njeri Kinyanjui from the UN Research Institute for Social Development explains that a common thought in Africa is, “I am because we are, we are because I am.”
Jua Kali Toilet Store in Nairobi, Kenya
It’s not uncommon for jua kali’s in a range of fields to pool together into a group and financially help each other out, all donating a week of profits and lending it to a friend in order to purchase necessary equipment to get started.
The jua kali networks function on a rotating schedule, one member collects all the money for the entire week and then the next week’s profits go the the next person in the group.
The creativity of jua kali’s in Kenya is sometimes mind boggling; things that you didn’t even imagine could work again, somehow manage to keep breathing.
Their complex yet simple model of business offers insights into the cultural reality of Kenya and the employment that so many rely upon day after day.
Are You a Jua Kali?
As you travel or wherever you live, things break and get old, and spending money (or saving while you travel) will inevitably be at the forefront of your interests.
Before throwing something away, ask yourself, “Could I jua kali it?“ Maybe it won’t last long, but hey, you might be surprised at the value of being resourceful and making quick fixes and not having to buy something new!
I am absolutely awed by the creativity that goes into this concept. What a difference it makes to the throw way culture of the West. A lot to be learned here. Thanks for this enlightening post, Mark.
Thanks Inka – no problem!
A lot of my Kenyan and other African friends are some of the most resourceful and creative people I know. I’ve learned a lot useful “jua kali” techniques from them!
I definitely Jua Kali’d my flip flops a few times with super glue. I also used a safety pin to fix a broken necklace. No need to buy new
Although I did finally toss the flops after the 4th super-gluing episode.
The Travel Chica recently posted..My New Apartment: Frisky Kitties & Cold Trips to the Bathroom
Haha! Thanks for sharing Steph!
With super glue, string, safety pins and duct tape a lot of things are possible!
What the expression in Kenya for “You might be a redneck if…”
Jeremy Branham recently posted..Airlines increase the price of airfares as FAA taxes expire
Hehe, I just happen to see an innocent little Thai kid the other day wearing a shirt that read in big letters – “Git er Done.” Of course he had no idea what it meant…but that’s what gave me the title!
It always amazes me the things that get fixed that in wealthier nations just get thrown out. You see cars on the road in developing countries that are in breach of the laws of science…
robin recently posted..A Starling In The Apartment
Yah, so right Robin – and you know about the jua kali’s in Nairobi and throughout Africa too. Their motto is “never say die!”
Living with insufficient money makes your brain race, and come up with some useful tactics for survival. These people are survival kings. We have to learn from them, not to be such consumer society.
Great post.
theKing recently posted..Planning Tips before a Vacation
You’re right about that, when there’s a lack of somethings, people find ways to survive and get around it. One cannot underestimate human creativity!