Peter Njonjo is a Kenyan entrepreneur who co-founded Twiga Foods, one of the most ambitious and heavily funded agricultural technology startups in African history. His transition from a successful corporate career at East African Breweries Limited (EABL) to the chaotic world of fresh produce logistics in Nairobi made him one of Silicon Savannah's most prominent founders - and the dramatic arc of Twiga Foods, from Goldman Sachs darling to crisis-ridden pivot, made him one of its most instructive case studies.
Njonjo's background was corporate rather than startup. He spent over a decade at EABL, the Diageo-affiliated beverage company that dominates East African beer and spirits markets, rising to become Commercial Director. At EABL, he oversaw one of the most sophisticated distribution networks in East Africa - a system that moved millions of bottles of Tusker, White Cap, and Smirnoff through thousands of retail outlets across Kenya with military precision. The experience gave Njonjo an intimate understanding of supply chain management, retail distribution, and the economics of moving physical goods through African markets.
He co-founded Twiga Foods in 2014 with Grant Brooke, a British entrepreneur, after observing the stark contrast between EABL's efficient distribution and the chaos of Kenya's fresh produce supply chain. Fruits and vegetables in Nairobi moved through a byzantine network of farm-gate buyers, middlemen, wholesalers at Wakulima Market and Marikiti Market, and finally to the informal retailers and mama mbigas who sold them to consumers. Each intermediary added margin, and losses from spoilage, handling damage, and theft averaged 30 to 40 percent. Farmers received a fraction of the retail price, while consumers paid more than necessary for produce of inconsistent quality.
Twiga's model was to connect farmers directly to urban retailers through a technology platform, bypassing the middlemen and their margins. The company built collection centres in agricultural areas, established a fleet of refrigerated and standard delivery vehicles, and created a mobile ordering app for Nairobi's small retailers. The vision was elegant: more money for farmers, lower prices for retailers, less waste, and a data-driven supply chain replacing the informal networks that had operated for generations.
The fundraising was spectacular. Twiga raised over $150 million from investors including Goldman Sachs (which led a $30 million round), IFC, TLcom Capital, Creadev, and Google's Africa Investment Fund. The Goldman Sachs investment in particular attracted global media attention - here was Wall Street's most prestigious investment bank betting on a Nairobi startup that sold bananas and tomatoes.
But the unit economics proved punishing. Fresh produce logistics in Nairobi involved navigating traffic congestion, managing cold chains in a city with unreliable power, handling products with shelf lives measured in days, and serving retailers who ordered small quantities of diverse products. The cost of a Twiga delivery frequently exceeded the margin on the goods being delivered. As losses mounted, the company underwent multiple restructurings, laid off significant portions of its workforce, and pivoted from fresh produce to FMCG distribution - essentially abandoning its founding thesis. Njonjo stepped down from the CEO role in 2023.
Njonjo's experience encapsulated a tension at the heart of venture-backed agriculture in Africa: the problems were real and large, but the solutions required patient, operationally intensive work that was difficult to reconcile with venture capital's demand for rapid, exponential growth.
See Also
Sources
- Herbling, David. "Goldman Sachs-Backed Twiga Foods Restructures After Losses Mount." Bloomberg, 2023.
- Bright, Jake. "Twiga Foods Raises $30M Led by Goldman Sachs to Disrupt African Produce." TechCrunch, 2019.
- Mulupi, Dinfin. "Peter Njonjo: From EABL to Building Africa's Agricultural Supply Chain." How We Made It in Africa, 2018.
- Adegoke, Yinka. "What Went Wrong at Twiga Foods?" Rest of World, 2023.