Nairobi, March 4 -- Kevin Abwova never really wanted to run a business with his father. His father was a shoe repairman turned into a shoemaker, who later ventured into luxury bag-making.

After finishing high school, Kevin hustled for a few years, chasing whatever jobs came his way. Eventually, he joined his father in the family shoe repair shop, and together they began making school shoes, though at first, it was little more than a small, homegrown business.

While Covid-19 forced many businesses to close, Kevin and his father saw a silver lining: an opening in private labelling, helping companies produce goods under their own brand names when in-house staff were limited.

For three years, they focused on private labelling, making bags ...