Nairobi, May 26 -- We meet a few hours before his flight back to Denmark at the Ngong Racecourse, a place that feels like home to Ramadhan Wako.

Before moving to Denmark to work with horses that are almost twice the size of those he was used to in Kenya, Wako was a rising jockey in these very stables. His fortunes changed when friends already working in Denmark's racing industry recommended him for a position abroad, opening the door to an opportunity he describes as life-changing.

Wako's journey with horses started after he completed his information technology diploma at Chuka University. Although he had grown up around the Ngong Racecourse, where his father worked in the stables, it was only after he graduated that he considered a car...