By Victoria Macharia
Every morning, millions of Kenyans begin their day at a duka, a roadside kiosk, or a market stall. They buy small purchases repeatedly, countless times across the country. These transactions may seem insignificant in isolation, but collectively they form the backbone of Kenya’s consumer economy.
And yet, they remain consistently undervalued in how companies design their growth strategies.
It is in the kiosk that opens before sunrise, run by a trader who knows every customer by name. It is in the market stall that serves a steady stream of loyal, repeat buyers. It is in informal, hyper-local networks that goods move quickly, flexibly, and at scale. These are not peripheral channels. They are the centre of Kenyan retail.
The data confirms this. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ 2026 Economic Survey shows that the informal sector employs 18.1 million people, representing 84% of the workforce outside small-scale agriculture. Of the more than 822,000 jobs created in 2025, nearly nine in ten came from this segment of the economy. This is not a secondary system operating in the margins. It is the engine of growth.
For FMCG companies, this reality demands a shift in thinking. The small-scale trader is not just a seller; they are the primary interface between brand and consumer. If companies are not effectively reaching and serving these entrepreneurs, then they are not truly reaching the market.
The risks of ignoring this became clear during the COVID-19 disruptions. Centralised distribution systems, especially those reliant on large retail chains, proved vulnerable to shocks, including supply delays, operational breakdowns, and temporary closures. In contrast, informal networks demonstrated resilience. The kiosk stayed open. The community adapted.
This resilience is not accidental. Distributed, decentralised networks are inherently more flexible. When your route-to-market runs through thousands of independent entrepreneurs rather than a handful of large retail partners, it does not collapse under pressure; it adjusts. It bends.
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There is also a clear commercial case for diversification. A concentrated route-to-market may be efficient in stable periods, but it is fragile under strain.
If growth and resilience are the goal, then distribution must be redesigned from the bottom up.
This means starting not with the channel, but with the consumer in mind – where they live, how they shop, and who they trust. In Kenya, that journey begins in the informal economy.
One example of this approach is Maua, an innovative route-to-market model by Mars Wrigley Kenya that empowers entrepreneurs to distribute products within their own neighbourhoods while building sustainable livelihoods. To date, the program has supported more than 3,000 entrepreneurs directly and positively impacted over 16,000 lives indirectly. These entrepreneurs are not passive participants in a supply chain; they are business owners with a deep, nuanced understanding of their customers. They intuitively know demand patterns: what sells, when it sells, and why. The Maua program has already been rolled out in Kenya and Tanzania, with plans to expand into additional African markets, reflecting its strong commercial potential and scalability.
This is a commercially sound model that expands reach, improves responsiveness, and strengthens market presence while simultaneously creating income opportunities at the community level.
The broader trajectory of the continent reinforces this direction. Research from McKinsey shows that Africa’s consumer growth, projected to exceed $2 trillion, will continue to be anchored in informal and hybrid retail systems. Much of this expansion will occur in areas where modern trade penetration is limited. The companies that succeed will be those already embedded in these ecosystems, working through trusted, localised networks.
It is time, therefore, to rethink what we mean by “the last mile.”
Too often, it is treated as the final step in a linear supply chain, the point reached after the real strategic work is done. But in markets like Kenya, the last mile is not the end of the journey. It is the beginning.
It is where brand meets consumer.
It is where purchase decisions are made.
It is where loyalty is built or lost.
In that sense, it is not the last mile at all. It is the first.
The informal sector sustained the economy through the crisis. It continues to generate most of the employment. It shapes how millions of consumers access goods every day. To treat it as an afterthought is not just outdated, it is commercially short-sighted.
The future of FMCG growth in Kenya will not be determined in boardrooms alone. It will be decided in Dukas, Markets, and Neighbourhoods in the everyday transactions that define real consumer behavior.
The writer is the Corporate Affairs Manager Sub-Saharan Africa, Mars Wrigley
