How Maina Kageni Makes Millions of Shillings
Popular radio presenter Maina Kageni is best known for Kenya’s most exciting breakfast show ‘Maina and King’ang’i in the morning.’
Maina’s show’s popularity, primarily in urban areas, generates huge advertising revenues. This has made Maina one of the highest-paid media personalities in the country, but he considers his radio work to be merely his day job, allowing him to pursue other endeavors.
Maina’s ability to influence brands and marketing has enabled him get endorsements with several brands including the Kenya Tourism Federation(KTF)
Through his travel agency Tembea Tujenge Kenya, Maina has been able to attract partnerships with Chevrolet, Isuzu, Sarova and Safaricom.
“The day you have only one revenue stream you’re finished. Totally finished,” he told Kamene Goro in an interview recently.
Maina also revealed that his entry into radio was a “happy accident.” He noted that he had always had a passion for business and that, if not for radio.
Together with his friends Trevor Kanja and DJ Pinye, a young Kageni wanted to promote an event they had organized on the radio.
The inability to pay Ksh40,000 for a voice-over artist for the advertisement they wanted to air on Capital FM resulted in the beginning of his radio career, which would propel him to incredible fame and success.
Kageni remarked that he requested permission to record the voice over himself due to a lack of funds. The station was so impressed with Kageni that they offered him a position immediately.
“I paid for the airtime, then they said we need Ksh40,000 for the voice-over – the guy who speaks the ad on the radio and its sound nice. I said can I do it? They said it’s your ad, if its rubbish its rubbish…I did the voice over and then they asked me, have you ever been on radio?” Kageni stated
“Basically if I had Ksh40,000 that day I’d never be on radio,” he added.
