Serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Zaumu marketplace Cedric Nzomo./HANDOUT
There’s a familiar rhythm to being a Kenyan innovator. We build innovative products and predict trends within the tech world because we are already in the tech start-up space. Then we listen to the applause as we watch the cheques and spotlights go elsewhere.
From the outside, it looks like Kenya is winning. We lead the charge in tech, art, media, and culture. In my 20 years within the creative industry, I’ve watched as Kenyans carve out lanes no one expected.
We built Ushahidi before “civic tech” was a term. We led with M-Pesa before Silicon Valley understood mobile money. We had blog culture, forum culture, and community-led content before “creator economy” made it onto pitch decks and the term ‘influencer’ became an acceptable job and revenue stream.
But the applause didn’t come from home. We’ve had filmmakers make global rounds with no local distribution. We have Bien selling out tours in the US while we pay Burna Boy over 20 times his local performance fee for one night.
Here’s something else worth pondering. While we lead the continent in startup funding, over Sh82 billion in 2024, less than 10% of disclosed VC funding goes to local founding teams.
And yet, we treat expatriates like innovative thought leaders while we export our experts to shape innovation across the globe. But this isn’t a new story. It is, however, a story that is being rewritten by content creators.
Last year, Kenyan advertisers spent over Sh3.2 billion on Meta platforms; however, only about Ksh. 238 million was spent on local influencer marketing. That’s 13 times more money leaving the country to buy local attention while the people already holding it are overlooked and underpaid.
We have creators whose reach rivals prime-time TV, and whose audience affinity completely decimates any advertising channel and yet they earn less per year than some billboards get per month.
But even for mainstream media, social media platforms continue to generate billions of shillings from content created by and distributed by Kenyan news outlets, entertainment hubs and publications. Media houses have a mass following on social media, but the following remains captive on X, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram without linking back to articles on their platforms.
There are two stories here. The story of systems that reward scale, not understanding. Size, not substance. Familiarity, not fitness. Systems that favour “global expertise” and “international solutions” even when local ones exist.
The second is the story of the creators, makers and innovators who continue to bootstrap their way into growth. By refusing to be silent, by tapping into their audiences, by inventing new ways to thrive.
That’s why we built Zaumu. We’re not trying to re-create magic. It already exists. We’re just trying to make it easier to find, fund, and collaborate with innovative creators. Investing in creators as our truest innovators is how we close the gap between great work and fair reward, between homegrown talent and local investment.
The platform makes it easier for brands of all sizes to find, hire, and pay local creators fairly, transparently, and efficiently. We removed the guesswork, simplified briefs, automated vetting, and built in progressive payment systems to eliminate risk.
And that is the third story that could change the first two. This story is not about what Kenya and Kenyan content creators lack. It’s about what Kenyan content creators already have, and choose to back. This isn’t about exposure. It’s about economics.
There are many other solutions. Homegrown innovations that are all carving out a new path for content creation, and we are already at the forefront of. Solutions that all content creators, artists, and media houses can apply to tap into the revenues leaking away through foreign digital platforms.
It costs a brand nothing to say they value local talent. But if their media budget says otherwise, we will remain passengers and not drivers on this innovation superhighway.
So here’s my pitch. Spend where the value is. Invest in local storytellers and innovations. Because when we invest in each other, we win. We don’t need to wait for policy reform or external validation. We can unlock the fullest potential of our greatness. And we’re just one step away.
The writer is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Zaumu marketplace.
