 If you had the chance to change one thing in Africa, what would it be? I would make us a United States of Africa. Never? Yes. Do you know that I've heard a lot about you? From where? I'm curious to hear about you. All about the internet. And after seeing you, I think I'm more inspired. You look so young to achieve what you've achieved so far. Anyone can achieve anything. That's one thing I've learnt. You just need to have the right idea and implement it correctly. You are the one that is changing the narrative of sportswear in Africa. We have to. There's no other person who's going to do it for us. What inspired you to do what you do? A lot of things. One was living abroad and then recognizing that we have these huge assets as a country that we're not taking advantage of. And also just living with athletes and seeing how they have so much pressure to be able to just make a little money and then it goes to a lot of people in the community. So I thought what if we took advantage of this one thing that we're really good at and then we allow more people to benefit from it. And so that was the initial thought that led us here. On behalf of all Africans, we want to say thank you for changing the narrative of Africa in your own way. And also on behalf of Africans, we just want to say you are one of the people that inspires many Africans. Thank you very much. I feel like that's a huge honor. Thank you. Are you born and raised in Kenya? Yes, very much so. I was born here, raised here, went to study a little bit abroad and then came back and now happy to be back home. When good things come out of Africa, we always associate with foreigners. I'm so shocked to see that you're Kenyan. Well, I am as Kenyan as they come. So this is what you get. So I'm Navalaya Osembo. I am a lawyer and accountant by training. I did international development and now I'm making shoes. So you don't have to study, you don't have to work what you studied. That's also the one thing I've learnt, which especially in this world where people say show us how many years of experience. Nowadays I'm like, unless something's very technical, like being a doctor, you can learn anything. When I was an undergrad, I did a lot of things. One of my most significant experiences was working at a branding company and that's where I understood the power of a name and a brand. I don't think I'd ever really figured out why a brand is important. And so I worked briefly on an internship at a place in London called Wolf Orleans, which I think was very fundamental to understanding why Ender has to be a brand, why back then I wasn't putting it together. And then when I came back, I went to New York, I was working with the United Nations. Working with the United Nations? Was it your last job? Yes, that was my last job. Don't tell anybody that I asked you this question. Africans would be like, you got the job to work with the UN and you decided to leave and come back to Kenya. Is everything okay with your brand? This is a question that so many Africans would be asking. Is everything okay? Everything is perfect. Pristine, perfect condition. Nobody told you that it's something wrong with you for you to leave there and come back here? There were people who thought it was the wrong decision, but I think life is yours. You get to decide. And if you make a mistake, it's fine. I think one of the things we leave is we get scared of letting go of things which were not belonging to us in the first place. So I said, if God gave me this job, He'll get me another one. I just needed to trust in the dream and follow it. See, something must drive you to leave your work and come back to Kenya. What was the inspiration? What brought you back to Kenya? By the time I was coming back, the business was already picking up pace. What kind of business? The same business. So I started it before I left. Just when I was leaving Kenya to go to New York. So that's when we were discussing of how this thing would work, what would happen. And so by the time I was on my, I think it was either my third year or when I was approaching my fourth year, the business had grown such a point that it needed personal attention. So I had to choose which master to serve. You're definitely an entrepreneur. When were you in school? I don't know. It depends, maybe. I don't know. Nowadays I'm just like, I do life. That's what I do. You've grown this business to the extent that I'm in Ghana and I've heard about you. That's good. We may not. Yeah. You even know him? This guy. This guy is too fair. How are you going? I thought you were going. Who really inspired Panda? Panda was inspired by many things. One was living abroad and the experience of being a black person and saying, okay, you know what? Maybe we should show, we should show the world that we are capable. Like we can create our own things, you know? Because in my opinion, the world can't function without Africa. All the resources, most of the resources are coming from here. And so I feel like we do deserve some respect. Actually we do deserve the respect of humanity to kind of like be recognized as people who are not just dependent. There are so many false narratives and I wanted to create a positive narrative. And then also, I grew up around a lot of athletes and I saw just how much there's a financial burden on like one athlete to, you know, like support many people in the community. And yet when you look at the companies that are sponsoring these athletes, they're making billions, you know? And I was like, why can't we tap into that billion? And then at least we'll spread the benefits so that it's not just one person, but we are also benefiting from that reputation. Are the athletes in Kenya embracing Panda? I would say yes, you know, like we are working with the young and upcoming. The ones who are elite already are locked into contracts, but they have given us their support, you know, like basically saying this is something that should have been done. We support you and things like that. But I think for me, it's much bigger than just support. It's just something that has to be done regardless of who's with me or not. We just have to do it. I know definitely somebody who doesn't speak Swahili want to find out what is Enda. Yes, Enda means go in Swahili. It means go. And so when people are cheering on the athletes, when they're supporting the team, everybody will be shouting, Enda, Enda, Enda. Oh, so I can ask you all to end the warping. Exactly. Enda just means go in Swahili. So anyone who didn't know now knows what is in Swahili. I definitely want to go find out where they make the shoes. I really want to see myself if this is really made in Kenya. Seeing is believing. That's okay. I really want to ask my next question from there. Is that okay? That's very fine. Thank you. So this is the place where we do the manufacturing. Basically, we put the shoes together and it starts from very basic to the point where you actually have the completed shoe. I'm so happy to see more women working here about that man. Yes, yes, yes. Same here. One of the things we were also talking to the factory was can we, you know, like promote women and see if we can have more of them? Maybe because the person who got the initiative is a woman. No, but also you recognize just how much of an impact an income has on a woman, for example. Yes, yes, you can. So this is the lacing process. Lacing process. Yes, so basically they're putting the shoes to the laces. This is the upper for one of our specific shoes. This is actually the trench shoe. This is ripstop nylon and it has a waterproof guard at it. The shoe basically is waterproof and if you're running in the trail, in the mountain, in water, you know, like rock terrain, this is the shoe for it. What inspired the design of the shoes? I love this shoe because I have to say this shoe is inspired by the theory of evolution, which has a home in Kenya actually. So as a human species, homo erectus, basically as a human species, we became upright people in Northern Kenya. And so that's where I believe the home of running. It's not just saying Kenya has the best runners, but from a humanity perspective, it's also the home of running. So this shoe, if you see here, for example, it has the numbers 1470. So this is part of the skull, the name of the skull that was found at Kubei Fora, which is how we've named this shoe. And the skull, the spear is from our logo, is from the coat of arms. You know, you have two lions holding a spear and a shield. So that's where it's coming from. This is also, this is actually the imprint of the skull that had the one 1470. So it gets to educate people that this shoe, you know, like you get to ask, what is this, then you learn, oh, there was a skull found in Northern Kenya and this was the name of it. The shoe itself is named after that place, Kubei Fora. So our shoes are not just things people wear. We take time to educate people, tell them a story and leave them more aware of Africa or our... Can I tell you something? Yes. This is a very representative of Kenya to the world. Yes. Yes, that's the idea. From Kenya to the world. So how many people work in here? It varies between sometimes 22 to 30 people depending on the processes that are going on. Wow. Yeah. But if you count the parkas and everybody else, we pretty much, we are about 70 people from end to end to make this process happen. So this is where now you're attaching the midsole with the upper, basically the insole with the upper. It's very important because this, when you're putting a shoe flat, basically it has to be a stitch that is vertical but when you spread it, it's flat. So it's called a strobel stitch. So that's what this night played in doing here. So this thing which you see in most shop selling shoes, but this is more for manufacturing, is called a last. The last is what gives shape to the shoe. Because you can see as you finish stitching the upper and the insole together, it doesn't have shape. So the last basically is what determines the shape of the shoe. This is the last thing. So it has to be nice and tight, not too tight, not too, so the machine just helps to make sure it's done. Because if you miss it, then you're going to start seeing the stitching appearing where the sole is supposed to be. So you just have to make sure that it's nice, flat and when it goes to attachment, everything is concealed underneath. This is now our last issue. Will it give to the woman? Yes. So they just make sure everything is okay. They'll try the laces and then now they start prepping it for assembly. And then now comes the bit. Just like painting and any other thing that needs adhesion, to make sure that there's no impurities at all. So you see it's more like a vacuum machine or more like a blower. And then now they'll put the initial adhesive. It has better capacity to hold when there is no impurities. And then now it's going to go into a heating machine where the conveyor belt is. You have to always maintain the right temperature. Otherwise, you might have issues with the glue. So it goes through a series of tunnels where they're cooling and heating and cooling, heating and cooling, but this is the first step. So once they're blown, they're put on the tray just to make sure each shoe is by itself and they're not collecting any darts by themselves. I want to know what do you get a raw material from? So we get the raw materials. It's a mix. For some shoes, we get them from Kenya. For some, we get them from Asia. Oh, okay. Because some of the things are... And that's part of the assumptions we had when we started making shoes. We thought, oh, we could just get rubber. And then you understand that not all rubber is equal. There's some things that you need to do. For example, you're making a performance footwear and that's not readily done in Kenya. So if we build enough capacity, that's definitely the thing that we're going to move here. So now the shoes will come from the heater and then they'll go slowly through the conveyor belt. And so there is a series of trying to make sure that they... If you don't just apply once, you apply over and over again at different temperatures and making sure everything is good. And then now you have another machine called the gauge marker. It's also just making sure that everything is in line because, as I said, a shoe is alignment. I'm sure when you see a shoe that's looking the lines you'll be able to tell. So this equipment is helping us to make sure that even the process that we did before, the last thing, even though we went through the machine and other people did it, that it's been done correctly. And then while she's applying the adhesive, he's busy with that machine checking sure that the alignment is okay. And so now we are also still cleaning and making sure that the adhesive is correct. If there's any adhesive that he's showing where it's not supposed to show, they remove it. And then it's at this particular point that we also start putting also adhesive on the upper, like on the side that has been lasted as well. Who is going to combine the two shoes together because I feel like I cannot wear them anymore. I really want to see a foot shoe. Patience, patience, my friend. Patience is the key. So these foot beds, the green things, they are custom made for our shoes. So just to make sure that when the sole is going to be fitted inside, it's like a really, it's a good fit. That way we make sure that basically what we're doing now is making sure that the fit is exact. Because for example, five, five and a half, six, six and a half, all that matters and you just want to make sure that all that process is done correctly. So what he's doing, this machine is called a gauge marker and he's basically checking the alignment of the shoe. You want to make sure that the shoe is properly aligned, that is associated with feet because you want, when you put on that shoe you feel like it fits you properly. So this machine is very good for that. He'll also use a special type of pen to draw around the shoe. That's kind of like helping the people who are going ahead with the adhesive to know the boundaries of where to continue and where to stop. Again, we don't want shoes that are showing glue or things like that so we are trying as much as possible to keep that under control and this machine is important for that. I thought making shoes is all about melting a piece of rubber and then you just dry it up and you're good to go. I wish, I wish. I really love the quality of these shoes and I love the design. Thank you. Are you the same person who really designed this? Actually, we have an excellent designer who's on our team. He's young, he's very talented and I can't wait for you to meet him. And he's Kenyan? Very much Kenyan. Wow, I would love to speak to him too. Yeah, we create the opportunities for the people with the skill. My brother, I heard that you designed this shoe, man. Yes, I'm part of the team that designed it. Why? You learnt how to design shoes. Is that your major? Right, yeah. So, part of it actually was part of, of course, in school. I did product design but of course, more of the learning has been annoyed in my experience as a shoe designer. How do you feel when you see people wearing something that you designed? Oh, man. So proud, so proud. And so to see, like, you know, even the shoes, people from all over the world actually wear it. And being part of that team that comes up with those shoes, it's such a befitting moment. I just want to say that you are inspiring and keep inspiring the world, brother. Thanks, man, I appreciate it. At this particular point, the shoe is finally ready to be put together. Basically, the upper and the midsole are ready to be put together. First, we'll do it by a manual process. Note that the line that had been indicated by the team that was doing the gauge marking is a good indicator so that if you miss it, then you know that you've missed something. And so, everything basically comes together. The last thing, the putting together, the cleaning, ultimately, you want a shoe that, you know, is put together nicely and then you'll kind of press the edges for me to make sure it's good. After that, it now goes to the machine that will do a proper job of it. Automatic? Exactly. So, that's just making sure now that the grip is as good as it can be. You know, like we've done the absolute best in terms of making sure it's not falling apart when someone is wearing it and running with it. So, which means that this is the final product? No, then it goes to the chiller, right? Because you have to, now you have to cool it down, bring it to... Yes, yes, yes. So, now once that process is done, they put the shoe in the shoe bed, they compress it, and then once it's removed, it goes to the chilling area. And so, yeah, this is the cooling machine. It comes out of there. Oh, wow! It looks so soft, right? It is. It is actually cold. Now, your elder shoes are wet. Yeah, it is. I'm like, I can take a video in a video, right? So what makes elder shoes unique from older shoes then? What makes our shoes unique is first, the fact that you are making them in Kenya and Africa. You know, there are so many other places you can make it, but I think we have to commit ourselves to building the continent, building the economy. Second, as I said, they are all pieces of art. They are telling a story, right? It's not just a typical shoe that you buy. This shoe will tell you about the scar, it will tell you about it before. It will tell you her rambi at the bottom, which means we all work together. Oh! It gives you, you know, it gives you things that you actually feel as a human being connected to Kenya and connected to the brand. I'm not a good runner, yeah? Everyone runs. No, everyone runs, yeah? But I know that I'm not a very good one. But I don't know if I ever buy elder shoes, I'll get a good meta. No, no, no, you will. Oh! You will. We are trying to make elder shoes available. In fact, we want them to be the shoes for when you see someone wearing them, you feel like this person must be from Africa, you know? Because we have that ability to infuse our culture in the product. I feel like every African athlete needs to endorse. And, you know, I'm endorsing it. From today, I think I'll be the next Olympic champion. Good! Good! So once the shoes come from the children, they are collected here, and then these wonderful ladies clean them just to make sure any accent of glue or the gauge marker pen it's all removed. I'm teaching how to clean it. Yeah? Yeah. Sasa, you know Swahili? Good job. My Swahili is on point. Can I wash? Is it like this? Yes. So I think this is already clean, you know? Oh, already clean? Yes. So which one is not clean? This one. So you see? What, you clean? This? This one? Yeah. This is almost like an eraser. You're rubbing fast. Like this? No. Yeah. Like the line? It looks easy, but it's not easy, my brother. This is why you need to respect people that went here, man. I thought you just wash your shoe and you're done. Rack harder, rack harder. I'm sorry, man. I'm so sorry. How much? Yo, this is a lot of work that I need to pay for. I don't have any money, but I'll send you some. Thank you. Okay, and then once we get there, we come to the packing. Father cleaning and packing. In case they miss something there, you'll find it here. So here is now cleaning, drying, packing. Oh. And then also the bags, these ones have been made in Nairobi. We ship them here. So the bag is important because it's fast. This is a, it's called a kanga. A kanga is a traditional Swahili fabric. So we also leave you a touch of Kenya. And then for, at the back of each, we write what the, this, for example, this shoe was inspired by the superb styling bird. So someone gets to learn about that. And at the end, we also basically build the community. So for every 2% of the purchase price, we donate it to community initiatives. So someone, it's not just buying the shoe, it's more of letting people know that this is a commitment to be made as a company. So whatever you buy this, what percentage goes to 2% of the purchase? It's even written. Yes. We write it so that it's a commitment. We also hold ourselves accountable. This is why I need to force each and every one of you to get ender shoes today. I mean, you don't have to be a runner before you want ender shoes. No, no, no. Even for working, for regular exercise. I've been talking out in the morning and all of that. We need ender shoes. It's made in Africa and I'm going to tell you that it's by force. You know the slogan already. What is the biggest challenge that you face establishing those in here? Of course, the biggest challenge was finding the capital to be able to do this. We tried to get money through the traditional ways of funding. We weren't able to do that. So we ultimately decided to raise money through crowdfunding or through the internet. So we sell product in advance. People pay in advance and that's how we got the money to get started. Are you saying that Kenyan business might never believe in the dream? I think the financial infrastructure is not catered to small businesses. I think everybody is asking, especially when you have an idea, they'll ask you where's your savings, where's your assets, where's your financial for your business to show you've operated successfully. None of these things are things we have. Sometimes you just have that idea and so the system, the financial system is not really favorable to SMEs. That's what I would say. Will you say that opportunities in Africa for Africans? Of course. This is a living example. I would say there's a lot of opportunities and if you look around the world, everybody's coming to Africa. This is despite years of colonization, years of extraction, years of things being removed from the continent and despite all that, people are still coming. That should show us that they're still good here and that they're still, you know, if other people are coming to get it, we should also fight to be able to get it for ourselves as well. Will you say that starting Africa's first sportswear in terms of shoes in Africa wasn't really worth it? It was so much worth it. I would say I wish someone started it a long time ago so that I was creating a competing brand, but it's definitely worth it. It's what you see, the opportunities it creates, the pride it creates and I'm like, we need to have more things that we are proud of. And how does this make you feel? I'm happy with my life. I feel like I am fulfilled, you know, like I'm doing something which if I get to the end of life, I don't have any questions. I said, can this be done? I said, let's try. And I tried it. Whatever the outcome, I tried it and I'm happy that I got to that point. If you had the chance to change one thing in Africa, what would it be? I would make us a united state of Africa. I would put everybody under one, like, let us work as a unit as opposed to fragments. I mean saying this which means that there is a reason behind it. Yes. What is the reason why you say it? The reason is simple. Our bargaining power is better and that's for everything. All our resources, it's easy, let's say for example, to step on DRC if you know you better get it from Rwanda or to step on Kenya if you're gonna get it from South Africa. However, since the resources are coming from here, what happens in a monopoly was to say that it means we dictate and we say, you know what? We actually think the value of Ghana's cocoa is this much. Take it or leave it. We actually think the price of titanium or cobalt is this much. Take it or leave it. The world needs our resources but as long as we are fragmented then we get crumbs. It's the same thing with the athletic footwear industry where we were just getting a few athletes winning prize money. They're not even in manufacturing. So we get the small things but when you stop and look around you're like hey, we're actually the people who can dictate how things go on. And I think when we realize that as Africans, not only will we change but I think the world order will change as well. Is there any day that you're trying to fetch maybe raw materials from a different African country and has been a major challenge? Yeah, it has. I mean I was trying to see if we could source things from Rwanda, we could source from Ethiopia but I think ultimately the tariffs, there's just small challenges you find across, you know. When you go to the border maybe the, I was really hopeful that the African continental free trade agreement would make changes and maybe, I don't know, sometimes you say let's be patient but I'm also like patient, it's painful because you're losing so much whereas I wish that once they signed it I could just work into Rwanda and say okay let's do this and work together. I think we have so much more to benefit. I think from this video I'm going to request a meeting with the CEO of the African free trade because I've been interviewing so many people and I also complain about the exact same thing which means that the initiative of the African free trade is just on paper not on the ground. It is on paper but I would also say I would be like I think for it to work we need to make it work. You know, like I think there's so much the office can do but ultimately the countries need to decide to make it operational because you're relying on political will and so there's a speech of Thomas Ankara he made it a long time ago but I'm just repeating what he says, you know and he was talking about we have a better chance together when we're united and I really wish that African countries could just wake up and agree you know the same way you woke up and came to Mombasa we just say okay I'm coming to Ghana no tariffs, let's do it you're coming to Kenya let's do it I don't think it should be as complicated as we've made it where can we get Enda shoes? www.enderforswear.com you see I'm going to force each and every one of you I'm not even going to beg you that I have 940,000 subscribers and I want 100 of you to order from Enda I'm not going to get commission out of it we can talk thank you so much for watching don't forget to subscribe to this YouTube channel part of this awesome family as we talk African stories across Africa my name is Mr. Ghana baby see you on the next one higher peace out