Charlene Ruto, the First Daughter of Kenya, and her Tanzanian fiancé, Isaya Yunge, have established various business and organisational interests. Their professional backgrounds and ventures have drawn interest following their Kalenjin traditional engagement ceremony, known as Koito, held at Intonna Heritage Farm in Kilgoris, Narok County, earlier this year. The couple's impending wedding has also sparked curiosity about their entrepreneurial work. Charlene's portfolio spans real estate, hospitality, agriculture, environmental conservation and youth development.
Charlene Ruto has interests in four initiatives covering commercial investments, farming, environmental conservation and youth development. One of her business interests is Matiny Ltd, a company associated with real estate and hospitality investments. Through the firm, she holds a minority shareholding linked to Weston Hotel, located along Lang'ata Road in Nairobi. She is also listed as a director of O'sere Flats, a residential development comprising approximately 98 housing units.
Charlene Ruto has developed agricultural interests through a mixed-farming operation in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County. Her farm produces a variety of crops, including mangoes, sunflowers, wheat, capsicum, beans, maize and cabbage. She has also invested in beekeeping, maintaining an apiary as part of her agricultural activities. Charlene has frequently encouraged young people to consider farming as a business opportunity, positioning agriculture as a potential source of employment and economic empowerment.
Charlene's environmental and youth empowerment initiatives include the Smachs Foundation, an organisation focused on food security and climate action. The foundation aims to improve traditional agricultural practices, modernise beekeeping and encourage environmental conservation. Its activities have included tree-planting campaigns aligned with Kenya's national target of growing 50 billion trees. In September 2023, Charlene established another initiative, The Young People's Network International, a youth-led non-governmental organisation.
Isaya Yunge, on the other hand, has concentrated much of his entrepreneurial work in technology, particularly solutions aimed at improving access to education. He co-founded SomaApps Technologies, the company behind SomaApp, a mobile platform that helps African students discover and apply for scholarship opportunities. The idea emerged after Yunge and his team identified a gap in scholarship awareness, with many local and international opportunities going unclaimed.
Yunge's work has earned him recognition both in Africa and internationally. In 2017, his startup won the GSMA Mobile Money Africa Hackathon award for Best Startup in Africa. He was also featured on Forbes Africa's 30 Under 30 list. A year later, he received the Queen's Young Leaders Award from the late Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his use of technology to develop sustainable solutions.
Although Charlene and Yunge have pursued different professional paths, their ventures reflect shared interests in creating opportunities and addressing challenges affecting young people. Isaya Yunge was born in Mwanza, Tanzania, on March 23, 1990, and his journey into entrepreneurship began against a challenging childhood background. He has developed other technology concepts, including KAYA, an artificial intelligence-powered smart speaker, and Somafit, a smartwatch intended to monitor health indicators.
Key points
- Charlene Ruto and Isaya Yunge have built business interests spanning real estate, hospitality, agriculture, education technology and youth empowerment.
- Charlene's initiatives focus on food security, climate action, and youth development, while Isaya's work concentrates on education technology.
- The couple's entrepreneurial work reflects their shared interests in creating opportunities and addressing challenges affecting young people.
