Nairobi, Aug. 12 -- Naftal Nyabuto's first step into entrepreneurship was not in technology but in fashion. In 2008, the trained computer scientist opened a retail clothing boutique, sourcing stock from wholesalers while keeping his formal job. The venture barely made it to its second year before collapsing.

"The people I had running the business for me as I focused on my employment were not trustworthy," he tells BDLife.

He tried again in 2010, this time opening a pharmacy after friends convinced him the sector was lucrative. Two years later, he shut it down.

"I realised that it is a highly specialised field and I could not understand it as a computer scientist. I was in it just because my friends had convinced me it was lucrative." ...