Samuel Kariuki: Sh1m books and a secret De’Mathew addict

The joke was there, begging to be told. But before I tell you the joke, I have to set it up, to provide context, because joke-telling is serious business. Patience is needed in joke-telling because good things come to those who wait.

Good things are also what fuel Samuel Kariuki, CEO of Mi Vida, a joint venture by Actis, a real estate private equity investor-developer in sub-Saharan Africa, and Sharpoorji Pallonji Real Estate, a player in the Indian real estate sector.

Kariuki built his career brick by brick, this ‘financial engineer’ as he calls himself, was thrust into the cloaca of the construction business by his distinct brand of polyvalence.

Lured from Centum Real Estate where he was serving as managing director, Kariuki previously worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Kenya and Rwanda for over 10 years rising to an Associate Director.

Disarmingly confessional, he was raised by a single mother, taking steps to further his career by acquiring an MSc in Finance (Economic Policy) degree from the University of London, an MBA in Strategic Planning from Heriot-Watt University, an undergraduate degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, an engineering degree from Moi University and for the chef’s kiss, a certificate in construction management.

Perhaps it’s not surprising that he was meant to scale lofty heights, and I do mean lofty heights, seeing that he has hiked most mountains that are there to be hiked as he gears up to conquer Mount Everest.

Presently, he climbs Mount Kenya in a day—for the novices, that is a distance of 30km. Despite being a backpacking virtuoso, Kariuki slithers on understatement, and his lack of histrionics or braggadocio can make hiking seem unusually (and deceptively) effortless.

But effortlessness should never be misconstrued as a lack of effort. Blessed with a whirr of fizz, wit, and heart—like ecstasy on ecstasy—Kariuki could go on and on about hiking, and he does go on and on about hiking, a cat toying around with a mouse.

Like finance guys, he is economical with his words. Unlike finance guys he is not shy in spending—an alchemy of an iconoclast and a dissident in the bean-counting ecosystem. We meet at his phlegmatic office at Garden City, on Thika Superhighway (née Thika Road) that Kenyan road that went from a poorly drawn pencil eyebrow to a micro-bladed eyebrow, now a harbinger of dreams and aspirations and wants, where people are walking in to buy, rent or own a piece of Nairobi. It’s the hottest ticket in town but you can’t tell from the cool-headedness of Kariuki.

Real estate may be the reason we are having this interview, but to be honest, I was just looking for an opportunity, and an audience to crack this joke, because you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. The joke? I asked him if I can get a house...on the house.

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What does it take to get here?

It’s a contradiction of sorts. I trained as an engineer. When I finished my final year project, on a Friday, that Monday I joined an audit firm in finance—with zero knowledge. I had to do a new degree in accounting.

I moved to PwC in Rwanda, where I diversified. My first project was industrial work, and financial advisory while providing quality assurance services—doing it as an auditor and financial consultant but in real estate. Rwanda then was going through a construction boom, most of my clients were in real estate.

When the Centum opportunity came, you didn’t need to ask me twice. At Centum, I moved to managing director for real estate which was my beacon for seven years.

What’s the most constructive criticism have you ever received?

That I am too serious. Especially while rising to my managerial position. I suppose I was too young and trying to look serious. That came as formal feedback from my bosses and informal from my staff.

Was that such a bad thing?

Well, you can be serious with the work but not relationship-wise. I was too straight-jacketed, with no smiles at all. I did a psychometric analysis which discovered that during my promotions, I came out as less relational and more task-focused.

Does that explain the hiking?

I have been hiking since I was 14 years old. I was born in Kawangware but we moved to Murang’a, which is very hilly, which is just as well because I joined a high school that paid lots of attention to outdoor activities—Starehe Boys. From Form One I was in the Scouting team, Survival Club, and President’s Award Scheme—which is domesticated at the school. The only time I have not hiked is when I went to Rwanda but upon returning in 2016, I resumed. Now I am a hiker Pro Max.

Word on the street is you are just from conquering Kilimanjaro…when are you taking on Mount Everest?

Haha! It’s the next target. Everything a hiker does is to prepare them for Mount Everest.

Not to scare you but the stats say there is quite the fatality level on Mount Everest…

No, I am not scared! But you see the goodness is if I conquer it, it is part of the risk haha!

What has hiking revealed to you about yourself?

Conquering mountains is analogous to life itself. Life is a series of mountains, and the physical climbing is quite similar. It is challenging but isn’t life so? Sometimes you crawl in the mountains but that is life. There is that sense of achievement. To me, hiking is a way of decluttering life after a week of deadlines, contractor negotiations, and financing projects. You become one with nature. What’s more, I am a very outdoorsy kind of guy…I love doing things alfresco.

Hold that thought…how often do you hike?

Every other Saturday not hiking is an exception. And the only exception is when I am going upcountry.

Do you go upcountry a lot?

It’s either I go upcountry on the weekend or I am hiking. You will never find me in Nairobi on a random weekend.

Are you a family man?

Of course.

Have your kids been bitten by the hiking bug?

My son is now hiking with me. He has conquered the highest point of the Aberdares and all its hills. Next weekend we surmount Mount Kenya together.

Growing up, did you have father-son bonding activities with your old man?

Off the record or on the record? Haha!

On the record, but just between us.

Haha! I am from a single-parent family.  [Geoffrey] Griffin, the Starehe founder and director, became my father figure.

Coming from a single-mother background, just how important is fatherhood to you?

I appreciate that in my teenage years, I joined Starehe. Under Griffin, Starehe was a centre first then school. That’s why it is called Starehe Boys Centre and School. The school had a separate principal, and Griffin played a father figure, especially when you needed him. When you start transitioning to a man, with Griffin who had an ex-military background, those influences subtly rub off on you. Even now, whenever I stand, there is always that tendency to stand with my hands behind my back. I make my bed straight—too straight, a military element learned from Griffin. He was authoritative, firm but fatherly. That helped a lot.

What have your children taught you about fatherhood?

My son wants to follow my career path which I am not sure is a good thing haha! At some point, he wanted to be a footballer, and I was his biggest fan. Whether he apes me or not, he is a humble quiet person, just like his father. He has every reason not to be, but he is.

What do you think your father’s absence gave you?

You don’t know what you are missing so you don’t know how differently you would have turned out. It was a hard life, if you were born after the 90s you will never understand. Now imagine being born in a single-parent family. If there was a positive twist. That is what fuelled me—I knew my only way out was my education. Sleeping at midnight and up at 4am. Maybe I would have been less serious, more approachable, and more relational in my early career haha! Now they know why.

If I were to change anything, I think I would be more balanced toward my family. Because of my background and because I was not taught any better, I was more of a career person and less of a family person. I held on to it too much it became my second identity. That time you spend with your kids is very important. We justify that we are doing it for them à la ‘I don’t want you to go through what we went through’ but they do not see it that way. I would give more time to my kids. We were taught fathers are for providing—we don’t know how to spend time with the children.

What do you do just for yourself?

I am addicted to hiking. And if I spend two weeks without hiking, I feel empty. In the worst-case scenario, I would run to Ngong Hills and satiate that urge. Nowadays I’d do Mount Kenya in a day, start at 6am go to the top, and by 5pm I am done. Thirty kilometres. If not hiking, my friends and I drive a lot, randomly. We decide to go to Moyale. On our way back we are like, ‘It is too early. Let’s detour across the desert to Turkana and if we come to Nairobi and see there is some time to burn, we head to Wundanyi.’ There is no place in Kenya with tarmac I am yet to go. But when I am in the house I have a whole library—I think I have more than Sh1 million worth of books. I am a book collector. My iPad is full of e-books.

E-books or hardcovers?

A combination of both. When I am at home not hiking, I’d be reading.

What is the one thing you read in a book that has stuck with you?

Let’s say the book that I read that changed my life: Jack Welch’s book [Jack: Straight from the Gut]. We are similar because we studied chemical engineering, and we thought what you study is what you become. He changed my perspective—that I can study engineering and end up in the commercial side of the business and be very successful.

It reprogrammed me, to start from my fourth year and pursue a finance degree—because an engineer is just a mathematician—so I started defining my background as someone with mathematical and analytical skills that can apply to insurance, business and finance which led me to apply for a PwC job. Had I not done that I think my life would have been very different today.  

Now you sell houses, but where or when do you feel most at home within yourself?

It has nothing to do with hiking or homes, which I like to call investments. The most fulfilling thing I do is supporting small-scale farmers in Murang’a to diversify into horticulture farming, which means I spend time and capital educating them on agronomy, providing them quality inputs, and aggregating and giving them markets, which is something I have done since 2017.

It’s that moment I am sat at a meeting paying someone for their produce and seeing them make Sh30,000 or Sh55,000 and using our connections to empower our economies and demonstrate what people with the right purpose can achieve. We once paid a village in Murang’a Sh2.4 million for French beans and the impact that has on the village gives me more fulfilment than anything else in life.

Speaking of, what’s the most absurd thing you’ve bought?

I bought my car after a series of accidents—not that kind of accident though. The car I bought initially kept knocking the engine, a series of new engines later and repairs I decided enough was enough. I took it back and the dealership exchanged it—but gave me the wrong car! After a year, I returned it. They gave me an expensive car convincing me that if I just added a small amount and a payment plan, I could get it. The more I look at it, the more I wonder what voodoo they practised, haha!

Which car is this?

It’s a Lexus!

Like the president’s?

Your words, not mine! That dealership guy is a good marketer. He told me to drive the car for a week. You know that is a psychological trick, once you start you don’t stop! He gave me an attractive payment plan, but I am driving an apartment around and our education tells us it’s not the right thing to do!

Our parents especially! That’s driving a lot of plots in Kamulu! Yes, it’s a whole apartment you could build. One part tells you about financial responsibility, the other tells you that you don’t want to drive these things when you are 50 or 60 years. But that’s not even the dumbest. That has to be these hiking shoes we buy. With hiking comes a lot of impulsive buying. I cannot travel out of the country without the itch to buy more shoes. That itch is money leaving my pocket! Hiking is an expensive hobby.

Of all the places you’ve gone to which place best describes you?

London. Because it represents the best aspirations of a country. They say if you are tired of London then you are tired of life itself. I am not tired of life…or London!

What’s the first thing you do in a new place?

I am addicted to high-rises and urban infrastructure, and 100-floor spaces. The first thing I do is drive around and get a sense of the city. I love tall buildings and grand engineering projects. I look for the highest points in that country so I can surmount it.

What is the craziest thing you’ve done?

You don’t want to know! You know I am a bit introverted, and my life is very routine-based.

Okay then, what is the most trouble you’ve been in?

Growing up in Kawangware during the Jamhuri ASK (Agricultural Society of Kenya) shows, the most enjoyable thing was watching parachutes. Our parents didn’t have money but we would always find ourselves inside the showground, somehow without paying. That was very naughty as a child. But I was quite the good kid.

Do you ever go back just to remind yourself of the good ol’ days?

I took my son and daughter to the showground and I realised it is nothing to them. So I just go for the agricultural bit. Wait. I just remembered [about trouble]. There was a time my two friends, my son and I went to the Amboseli. We were about to finish our tour at 6pm but we decided to look for the Namanga exit route, which we didn’t know and ended up 50km in Tanzania at 9pm. Imagine the kind of trouble that can land you, with no passport. Luckily, the ranger we found accidentally was understanding and took us back to our border.

What’s your weekend soundtrack?

John De’Mathew.

I did not expect that.

Haha! I started listening to De’Mathew when I was seven years old. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. It was my cousin who introduced me to him. His first track remains as good as his last.

When you think of the weekend what food comes to mind?

Nyama choma. I am a carnivore.

Are you happy?

I could be happier but I am happy that I am getting more time to do what I love most: connect with nature and still have an impact in my community back in Murang’a by helping small-scale farmers. Plus, if my career was to have an impact in real estate, no matter how minimal, I will be grateful. In the last 18 years, I can identify a few individuals who are in the positions I occupied because I mentored them.

What is an absurd thing or habit that makes you happy?

Other than listening to Kikuyu music when I should not? Well, I have watched Spartacus more than 50 times.

Do you have a secret talent that not many people know?

I play the guitar, and a few De’Mathew tunes haha!

If you had a billboard, what would it say about you?

Philanthropy because my generosity is inspired by where I came from.

Boil down your life to a sentence?

I am a simple man.

What do you think your epitaph would say?

I am a naturalist and environmentalist. If the best thing they do is a photo of me in nature, which would be a great legacy.

Who do you know that I should know?

Strive Masiyiwa. He epitomises what an African should be. He has outgrown Africa. He is the first black billionaire in the UK. His businesses are in Europe, America and Africa. His philanthropy side too where he is very much into educating orphans and helping small-scale farmers and building a positive side of Africa. I met him during my admission to the Tutu Fellowship.

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