Kenyan entrepreneur Peter Njonjo’s Twiga Foods fires staff, cuts allowances

Twiga Foods, a Nairobi-based Agri-tech startup run by Kenyan entrepreneur Peter Njongo, plans a cost-cutting and restructuring operation that would result in the dismissal of some employees and a reduction in allowances for those who will continue to work for the company.

The Nairobi-based agri-tech startup’s cost-cutting move comes more than six months after it invested $10 million in a new agricultural subsidiary as part of its plans to grow beyond supplying fresh produce and commodities via its mobile-based platform.

Twiga announced the termination of some of its employees as it moves into a new relationship with them on Nov. 1 as a result of the transformation of its trade development representatives into agents.

According to BusinessDaily, the startup, which previously claimed to have a 1,000-person staff, has moved all its trade development reps to become agents as it transitions its operations to an agency model for its sales team.

Employees’ travel allowances have also been restricted to individuals whose jobs require them to travel for more than 75 percent of the month.

“The travel allowance will include all costs related to the movement of the employee in her/his personal vehicle to attend to the business of the company,” the startup stated, adding that the executives will identify employees in their team whose tasks qualify for a travel allowance.

Njonjo and Grant Brooke founded Twiga Foods in 2013 to connect Kenyan farmers and vendors to fair, trusted, and modern markets. It provides the complete supply chain for high-quality produce.

The startup operates a cashless mobile B2B supply platform that provides market access to millions of small- and medium-sized vendors in African urban centers.

In 2021, Twiga Foods, in a Series-C funding round led by Creadev, a Paris- and Nairobi-based family office, secured $50 million from institutional investors to scale operations in Kenya and neighboring countries.

The $50-million capital injection, which followed a $30-million Series-B round ($23.75 million in equity and $6.25 million in debt) in 2019, brought the company’s total funding to more than $100 million in debt and equity financing.