NGCHEE, Francesca Dominique Y.

LAS 50- O
Entrepreneur Life Stories

Entrepreneur, Jihan Abass’ Proves that Money as a Motive is

Not Always The Key to A Worthwhile and Successful Business

Do you have the drive to become an entrepreneur? What does it take to be one? And how

does one become one? In this paper, I will be featuring Jihan Abbas, an entrepreneur and the

founder of Lami Technologies, an insurance technology company that she founded in 2018. Her

company aims to democratize access to insurance to millions of low income people in Africa

through the digitization of the insurance chain and offer business partners innovative digital

insurance solutions to help them enhance and improve the usage of insurance products. Aside

from that, in 2020 she founded the app, Griffin which is a digital car insurance app that allows an

individual to take less than two minutes to buy a policy. Because of this her competency and

innovativeness intrigued me and made me think– What inspired and motivated her to come up

with this idea and how was she able to turn it into reality?

Jihan’s career journey commenced through being an actuarial analyst for various

insurance companies in Kenya and the United Kingdom. In the midst of her experience in

finance, she felt unfulfilled and made a decision to quit her job to embark into a new journey. In

the documentary, “Jihan’s Venture”, she mentioned that the idea of setting up an insurance

company came to her, when a waiter told her in a conversation that he did not have medical

insurance. After some research, she discovered that less than 3% of people have access to

insurance in Africa because of the lack of technological infrastructure to facilitate insurance

distribution(Al Jazeera English, 2022). With this, Jihan focused on two opportunities by listening
to the voice of the market through the strategy of solving an issue and finding the gap in the

marketplace.

To begin Jihan’s journey, she estimated the initial capital through a business plan, the

calculation of product development costs, and the separation of launch and operation expenses.

With this, the most difficult thing she had to do was put her entire life savings in her business

which meant that if things didn't work out she would have to start from scratch. But despite that

risk and possible failure, she decided to pursue what she believed was right. She also expressed

her belief that in establishing a business, one does not necessarily have to reinvent but rather to

think outside the box, and to see where or what a business can improve on existing products or

services and make them better in order to be in a competitive market. In line with Jihan’s goals

and plans for her company there were personal factors that she considered to be significant

which helped her company grow: passion, compassion, and relationship with employees. Jihan

emphasizes that it is vital for one to be passionate about what one does because it will serve as

the foundation of one’s determination and motivation to continuously improve. Moreover, in line

with passion is compassion. Jihan is committed to help and improve the access of insurance in

Africa which serves a motive of the meaning of her work and company. In fact, due to her

commitment to improve the access of insurance in Africa she was amongst the 110 outstanding

African women by the New Africa Magazine (AWE, n.d.). Last but not the least, she exemplifies

the importance of treating employees like team mates because that would make them feel more

significant, hence enhancing their performance and creating a positive environment. Thus, with

these it gives more meaning and motivation to what Jihan is working towards.

Starting a business is difficult, in fact she herself and the company face a lot of

difficulties. Such as being an African black woman makes it quite difficult for her to raise funds.
Furthermore, when she first launched her company’s app there were a lot of downloads, but no

sales due to the lack of trust which is completely normal. In line with this, Jihan holds a growth

mindset and she says, “ You can’t really say that, that’s a problem until you ‘ve overcome it then

you can point it out. My aim is to go above, passing this hurdle and going back saying, "I did it

regardless.”(KTN HOME, 2021). Recalling my previous learnings, an entrepreneur is an

individual who invests in their resources in order to turn that idea into reality, through finding a

direction.As a result of this, an entrepreneur provides and gains value that produces purpose,

profit, and effort.

After watching the documentaries of Jihan Abbas' Journey, there are three insights that I

have discovered: passion does fuel purpose, don’t fear your vision instead pursue it, and a

problem is only a problem until one overcomes it. First, never be afraid to have a vision to pursue

that into reality. Through the documentary it made me realize how vital it is to set one’s vision

because it serves as a fuel for one's person’s passion and motive to accomplish one’s goals.

Second, passion fuels purpose. Because Jihan did not feel fulfilled in her previous job, she

pursued her passion to help her country’s citizens, turning this issue into an opportunity. This is

important as it allows an individual to stay motivated to continuously improve their business.

Last but not the least, a problem is only a problem until one overcomes it. Through the problems

Abass’ encountered she did not let those hinder her from company and her to grow. Personally, I

hold that having a vision in my life has allowed me to continue to work hard in school, and

because I am passionate about my course it motivates me to work towards my goal and that is to

open a restaurant in the future. Just like Jihan Abbas' I believe one can reach their goals as long

as they have the drive and purpose to do so because it’s what makes an individual resilient

leading one to success.

Appendix:

Figure 1.1 - Abass’ shares the risk she took

Figure 1.2 - Abass’ mentions her conversation with a waiter and how her company initiated
Figure 1.3 - Abass’ mentions her effort in research to know more about insurance in Africa

Figure 1.4 - Abass’ mentions a problem is only a problem until you overcome it

References:

Al Jazeera English. (2022, April 20). Jihan’s Venture: A Businesswoman in Kenya |

Africa Direct Documentary [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPjqbjU3I_U

Jihan Abass, the entrepreneur democratizing insurance in Kenya :: AWE - En. (n.d.).

https://africawomenexperts.com/lng/en/2022/11/jihan-abass-the-entrepreneur-dem

ocratizing-insurance-in-kenya/

KTN HOME. (2021, January 25). Millennials On The Move - Jihan Abass - 26 year old

tech company CEO Part 2 [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBdvF2KfBTc