Why I spend Sh2 million a year on air tickets

James Kariuki Njoroge, Platinum for Life member, Kenya Airways. PHOTO | COURTESY 

By Jackson Biko

In Summary

• In case you are wondering what James Kairuki does for a living, he’s a businessman, and the Chairman of China-Dubai Traders Group.

For the last 20 or so odd years, James Njoroge has spent countless hours in the air flying for ...
business. To put it simply, to be a Platinum member of the Flying Blue Programme, you have to have done 60 flights a year with any of the Flying Blue partners. This translates to about five flights every month, which means a little under a flight each week, for a year without fail.

Now, to qualify to be a Platinum for Life member, you have to have maintained this every year for 10 years. That is about Sh2 million a year on tickets.

In case you are wondering what James Kairuki does for a living, he’s a businessman, and the Chairman of China-Dubai Traders Group. We recently met for breakfast at the Fairmont Norfolk.
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How important is it for you to be a Platinum for Life member?

The perks. You get a business class check-in, 100 per cent more award miles on Skyteam flights, free lounge access, extra baggage allowance, the highest priority on the waiting list, Sky Priority treatment...all these for life! Basically, you are royalty when you fly. And we aren’t many in Africa, we are only 18, and only two of us are in Jua Kali, the rest are corporate.

What exactly do you do?

Question should be; what haven’t I done? (Chuckle) As a student, I sold bread in high school, I ran a matatu business between Nairobi and Eldoret while a student at Moi University. I sold radio and video cassettes on Luthuli Avenue until technology rendered me redundant with the coming of CDs and DVDs.

Then, together with my wife, we went into the electronics business, before I branched into logistics. I started going to China where I eventually set up shop, this was way back when even Kenya Airways had not started plying that route. In 2013, everybody got wind of my line of business and it became flooded and so instead of importing, I started manufacturing, mostly for the building sector. We still import electronics though

So this China-Dubai Traders association, sounds like a group of hard-nosed businessmen who know all air hostesses…

(Laughs) We are known, all right, because we are always flying. We were forced to form this group because we realised we were suffering from the same things; a lot of discrimination from airlines who had a one-suit policy where they believed everybody in Kenya wears a size 52. They didn’t care whether you have a big stomach or you are too thin and look like you are wearing your grandfather’s coat, they charged us the same tickets.

So we realised we were being taken for granted yet there are so many, we have a lot of power – we have the numbers and so we started off as a hobby group, as a group of two or three people. But eventually we came together and decided, okay we have nothing to lose but join together and then try to voice our issues.

So this group has basically been dealing with airlines in terms of the kind of tickets we should get…but now we are actually thinking of taking our muscles further and pushing for changes with the city council. I’m talking things like licences, better garbage collection…you know, areas where we can now actually work with people…now when there is a disconnect between us and government. We are about 50,000 members spread in Kenya, West Africa, Congo, Cameroon...

How long have you been trading?

I’m 45 years-old, I started trading when I was about 27. I have done many hours in the air, looked for business where people didn’t think there would be business, but now I’m slowing down. Flying is a good lifestyle and it is also a bad lifestyle; bad because you are forced to become like a pilot, like somebody who works for the airline. The only difference between me and the pilot and the cabin crew is that they’re getting paid to fly and I pay to fly.

Apart from that, being away from the family. It affects your children. Because when you are away, you need to be very careful – children at a certain age are very sensitive, marriages are also sensitive. There are times your family needs you more, but again the business needs you even more. So you need to have a balance. It’s good because you see the world, you learn new ideas, meet different people.

What’s been your greatest regret as a businessman?

Not taking opportunities early. Listen Biko, (leans over) I will tell you a story. There was an old Hollywood producer in the sixties who knew he had made more money than he would use in 100 lifetimes, and he was asked in an interview, “what would be your wish now, because you’ve got it all…what is next for you?” He said “success is like being a 40-storey building. The more money you make, the higher up you go. Currently, I’m on my 40th floor and there is no other place to go. There’s nothing above the 40th floor, so now I’m looking down.

So what am I going to do? I’m sending lifts down, so that I can bring up other people…” So, to answer your question: I feel that there is a very big disconnect, between the big manufacturers and the small manufacturers. The manufacturers are not training the smaller manufacturers. They are not sending down the lift.

Are you on the 40th floor?

No. I may still be on the first floor. (Grins) The chaps who are on the 40th floor are the big names in Kenya, the Kirubis of the world. These guys need to send down the lift.

You have flown KQ forever. How would you save the airline if you had the powers?

In my opinion, I think what should be done is now being done. The changes that are needed, even the sacrifices that should have been made are now happening. Now it’s a matter of time and dedication. It is a decent airline. I mean take their lounge, I have travelled to many destinations in the world and I have never seen a lounge that is anything close to the one we now have at JKIA. And there are many times when I walk into that lounge, I still can’t believe that it is in Kenya.

What’s your relationship with risk as a businessman?

I’m not very good at taking risks. There are people who are really good at risk taking in business. They gamble and it pays off. They’ll even buy things that are illegal and go through with everything. I don’t believe in that. I believe in slow but sure money. I believe that if you make money the hard way, the money stays with you longer. So I’m not lucky in that aspect - of making money easily. For me every coin I have I make the hard way.

What dream do you have now that is still left unaccomplished?

One, I think I’m running out of steam. I like being a realist, you know; I cannot run as fast as I used to. My unaccomplished dream is actually my transition to my children. I would not like to leave a legacy whereby the small business I’ve built just dies because I’ve died. That’s the biggest weakness we have as entrepreneurs, we are not able to develop the continuity of the businesses. I want my business to continue.

How many kids do you have?

Four.

With all that travelling you have done, have you had time for hobbies?

I restore vintage cars. I have a passion for classic cars. I don’t drive Toyotas. I don’t drive anything that anybody else in town drives. I’m very particular about cars. I love racing. I do a little bit of racing.

What are you driving now?

Currently all my vehicles are in the garage, but I have a Jaguar which is almost 20- years- old. It’s also a very powerful car. It’s old but very fast. I’m restoring a Peugeot 505 right now. I got a very clean one in December. I’m also working on a 404, a 1967 model . . . these cars are the ones that now have value.

What inspires you the most?

Kindness. If I was a mean person, I would be a very rich man. I believe in sharing things. Sometimes you don’t even need to help people with money. What I’ve realised is that most people don’t even need money. People need ideas.

Which maxim has informed your professional decisions?

For me, I come back to the same thing I told you in the beginning; that I believe in the producer’s theory. That if I come to this hotel and I’m the only person who can afford to buy tea, then I will be here alone. But if Biko can also afford to buy tea in this hotel, and Jackson, and Paul and John, then we enjoy together.

What’s the one person you’d like to meet, dead or alive?

I would say a man like Manu Chandaria. I’ve never met him in person, but the kind of thing I’ve heard about him, that level of humility, is something that has gone down well. We don’t have this in our leaders anymore.

Simplicity is something that has gone out of fashion. There is a new group of Kenyans between 30 and 50 that has replaced most of the Asians that occupy the shops, not the Idi Amin way, but by coming up and beating them at their own game.

These are guys who don’t close for lunch. Most of these people are not from Nairobi. They grew up in Murang’a, they are village people. But they brought in their simplicity. They are not expensive. They live very simple lives. This is the simplicity I’m talking about.