Workers at Hermisons industrial briquettes production facility in Kiambu County, Kenya.
NAIROBI, KENYA: Paul Mworia saw a business opportunity in briquettes while he went on his transport business between Kenya’s Port of Mombasa and towns in the Western region and neighbouring Uganda and Rwanda.
“One day I was offloading cargo that I had transported from a sugar factory in western Kenya and it took a shorter time than usual, something that caught my attention. It took ten minutes rather than the usual two days,” says Paul.
He discovered that the cargo was briquettes, charcoal-like fuel made from sugarcane waste. As days went by his curiosity grew and he began to research briquettes and their market potential.
Paul started off by making contacts with processing firms in Central and Nairobi regions and selling briquettes that he had sourced from companies in the Western region.
In the space of one year, between August 2014 and August 2015, Paul had made Sh 10 million (USD 100,897). But then he came up with the idea of setting up on his own. “As I did this, I decided to set up a briquetting company so that I could produce and supply the products rather than remain a middleman,” he says.
His friend Edwin meanwhile, had abandoned his charcoal selling business after two months of successive losses. He met too many obstacles in conducting his business between Nairobi and Machakos, two towns that are 30 miles apart. He then dabbled in different businesses until the clean energy business crossed his mind.
Paul and Edwin teamed up with a financial and business expert Gladys Mugo and started large scale production of industrial briquettes in August 2015 at their premises in Ndumberi, Kiambu under their company name Hermisons Company Limited. The three used their collective expertise and experience to start large-scale production of briquettes. The company manufactures industrial briquettes from sugarcane bagasse and sawdust.
Having invested Sh38 million (USD 383,410) into the business, it now produces 600 tonnes a month, and counts big names as its clients, including shoe manufacturer Bata, All Packs Ltd, Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), Kenya Breweries and bread maker Elliots. They have a workforce of 20, which includes six casuals.
“The business has created employment for the locals and as such the youth are busy making a livelihood instead of engaging in unproductive activities. We are proud to set up this venture, a first of its kind in this area,” says Paul.
Hermisons has been receiving support from the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC), a partnership providing incubation, capacity building and financing services to Kenyan entrepreneurs that are developing innovative solutions in the energy, water and agribusiness sector, to address climate change Challenges. Since January 2016 GVEP, one of KCIC’s partners, has been providing Hermisons with business advisory services ranging from financial advice, marketing training and business linkages to organisational development among others.
The business has had challenges including pricing and lack of awareness, but they are working on ways to get over these hurdles in a variety ways, including conducting thorough research and networking with like-minded entrepreneurs in similar businesses across the country
"We support innovative business enterprises that conserve the environment while providing clean energy to spur industrial development. GVEP’s advisory support and our business model enable them to become competitive both locally and internationally," says GVEP CIC Manager Felix Magaju.
The company plans to expand its production capacity by acquiring a second briquetting machine and also venturing into domestic briquettes. They also plan to put up a solar rooftop in order to reduce their energy costs.
The three agree that briquettes have a high growth potential in the Kenyan market. “Most Kenyan processing companies have been reliant on wood and diesel for fuel. The KTDA’s factories have relied on wood fuel for many years but are now gradually adopting the use of briquettes,” says Ms Mugo. She adds that the pressing energy deficit for the energy-intensive tea processing can be addressed by the use of briquette, especially for the processing activities such as drying, grading and packaging. “I know the demand for environmentally-friendly industrial fuel in Kenya is huge,” she says.
