As reality sinks into the minds of Kenyans that plastic bags will no longer be part of their daily lives following a ban that was effected on 28th August 2017, a businessman in Eldoret town has been forced to accept the fact that a luxurious deal is gone forever due to the ban.
For the past five years or so, Ali Kipchumba has been a main supplier of plastic paper bags in Eldoret town and the surrounding urban centers.
It’s a business that Kipchumba said enabled him make close to Sh100,000 a day.
“I supplied the bags to almost all whole sellers in the town who would then resell them in wholesale to other traders. On the face of it it looks not a profitable business but the more deliveries you make the better the returns,” Kipchumba said in Eldoret, Wednesday.
However, since the ban on plastic bags, Kipchumba has been driven out of his luxurious business as he had no prior links to suppliers of the new fabric bags that have replaced the paper bags.
“I had no idea what kind of bags will take over the market after the ban because if I knew I could have made arrangements to be the main supplier but as at now probably someone else has taken over from me,” he said.
“Over 50 people I had employed to make deliveries to my customers will now have to look for jobs elsewhere since there is no more work for them,” he added.
For now Kipchumba has shifted to sell of bags (gunias) used for packaging maize and wheat, which he said is not so profitable venture compared to the selling of plastic paper bags.
Source; hivisasa.com