For seven years, Peter Mutegi, director of Tegemeo Cereals Limited in Tharaka Nithi, struggled to manage his venture. Due to limited business skills, he would mix his personal finances together with those of the business. This would bring conflict within the business since the accountant could not trace the money and the director could not account for the funds.

“At the beginning, we were receiving both cash and mobile money and there were many times when the cash would be lost without trace,” recounted Mr Mutegi, adding, “the revenue from the different commodities we were selling, for example seeds and agrochemicals, was also not separated so it was difficult to know which commodities were bringing profits and which were not.”

The situation was untenable for a large agribusiness working with 12,000 farmers in Tharaka Nithi and Makueni Counties to grow and aggregate sorghum, green grams and millet, and produce, pack and sell seeds.