With 12,000 readers using his online bookshop, Vincent Milewa wants to transmit his love of reading to his fellow Kenyans. As his startup RafuBooks grows, he wants to attract more customers in other East African countries.

Growing up in a poor family, Vincent Milewa (pictured) used books as a roadmap to escape poverty. In school, he became fascinated with personal development and business. Later, he trained in computer science and worked in the telecom industry for more than ten years in sales and marketing. While going through a difficult phase in 2018, he dived back into reading but found it difficult to get the books he wanted. The idea came to him to create a library. That's how RafuBooks was born.

To make his project a reality, Vincent Milewa invested half of his monthly salary and received support from his family and friends. He was also able to secure some funding from an investment group of which he was a part. The resources collected allowed him to start his project in an office space with some books, a website, and three employees.

“I went through a tough phase in 2018 and read a lot. At some point, I was reading two to three books a week but obtaining them was a challenge and I hated going to town to shop. I had always wanted to start an e-commerce platform. At first, I had a small selection of books with the primary goal of fast, same-day delivery in Nairobi. People can order at 3 pm and still get it the same day,” he explains. 

In a context where bookstores are not as common as other types of businesses, Vincent Milewa uses new technologies to ensure the availability of books for many Kenyans. To meet demand, he works with both international and local suppliers. “Nobody should wait for a book for four days within the same city, except if it is coming from abroad. Like food, it should be delivered fast,” he says.

RafuBooks initially sold novels and self-help books, before expanding to religious texts, textbooks, and children's books. Nearly 150 local authors are listed, with about 300 titles. Since its launch in 2018, the library has processed over 15,000 orders. In 2020, sales increased significantly as a result of lockdowns. The following year, the startup grew by 30%. The company currently has 12,000 registered customers on its website.

The main barrier to the company’s business is the lack of a reading culture in Kenya. “The number of bookshops in Nairobi says it all and most of what they sell are textbooks. The majority of Kenyans read for academic reasons, they do not read purely for enjoyment,” Vincent Milewa regrets.

The promoter has developed a gift strategy to retain his customers. “We realized books and gifts go well together. So, when we thought about diversification, we offered gift items such as chocolate, wine, and flowers. It has been a great learning experience for us, and the gift part has been an ideal complement to the book business,” he said.

For now, RafuBooks delivers to Uganda and Tanzania, but Vincent Milewa's vision for his startup is to become the Amazon of East Africa and provide other product categories besides books.

Aïsha Moyouzame