Thomas Njeru

Co-Founder, Pula. #Actuary #Insuretech #Social Entrepreneur #The future of Insurance

[Michael A. Arouet @MichaelAArouet]

Germany was the world’s most powerful industrial machine.

Then it decided affordable energy was optional, regulation was a growth strategy, and entrepreneurialism was bad.

History may record Germany’s industrial decline as the most expensive act of self-sabotage ever committed.

[Francis Gaitho @FGaitho237]

Dennis Oliech and the Tragedy of Elder Capture: A Millennial Cautionary Tale

In the quiet corners of Dagoretti, where the remnants of faded glory meet the haze of muguka and cheap liquor, Dennis Oliech sits as a living monument to a generational tragedy.

Once a dazzling striker for Al Arabi, Nantes, Auxerre, and Harambee Stars, Oliech’s story is no longer about footballing brilliance. It is about what happens when a gifted young man internalises the gospel of his elders too deeply - and pays for it with his prime.

This is not merely one man’s fall. It is the story of an entire generation taught to kneel.

For decades, Kenya’s Boomers and Gen X have perfected a subtle, devastating system of control. They dangle proximity to power, promises of tenders, networks, and social elevation before ambitious young people. In return, they demand one thing above all: submission. Toe the line. Respect your elders. Serve the structure. Cosplay loyalty long enough, and the rewards will come.

Dennis Oliech embodied this bargain. At the peak of his career, he funnelled his earnings to his late mother, in an act of filial piety that many celebrated as noble. Today, the famous restaurant bearing his name is run by others, while Oliech himself chews muguka in the shadows.

This is elder capture in its purest form.

The mechanism is brutally effective. Boomers and Gen X selectively reward compliant Millennials - Jalango, Ronald Karauri, Maina Kageni, and others - parading their material success as proof that the system works. These shining examples become living advertisements: Serve faithfully, and you too can rise.

The unspoken threat is equally clear: step out of line, pursue your own path, demand justice and equity, and face isolation and exclusion.

We saw this psychology at work recently with Dennis Ombachi and Bien Aime Baraza. Their colonial-style capitulation was not merely about money. It was about the oldest temptation in the book - the promise of being “ahead of Gaitho and the rest,” of being accepted into the inner chambers of power.

The same script that turned promising young voices into performers for the status quo.

Even Njoki Chege, once a sharp-tongued columnist at NMG who built a career blasting young men while praising wazee, eventually found herself sidelined and purposeless in the newsroom she once dominated. The reward for loyalty, it turns out, is often temporary relevance.

This is not wisdom being passed down. It is a war of attrition disguised as tradition.
Millennials were conditioned to abandon their peers, sacrifice their most productive years, and serve as mboches at Kikuyu Council of Elders events - slaughtering goats, running errands and hoping for crumbs of wisdom, connections, or tenders that rarely materialise.

While they waited for the mythical quantum leap, their time - the only truly irreplaceable resource - slipped away.

The result is a generation caught between two worlds: those who obeyed and are now quietly rotting in obscurity, and those who are selectively elevated as propaganda tools to keep the rest in check.

The political implications are urgent. Look at the betrayals rocking Kenya’s reform movement - Boniface Mwangi, Kasmuel Mcoure, Hanifa Adan, Polo Kimani, Willie Oeba, Morara Kebaso, and now Ombachi and Baraza. The common thread is striking: they are overwhelmingly Millennials who, at critical moments, chose the comfort of elder validation over the uncertainty of genuine independence.

This is not coincidence. It is the logical outcome of decades of psychological conditioning.

Dennis Oliech is the cautionary tale. A man who had the world at his feet, yet chose filial duty and elder counsel over self-actualisation and strategic alliances with his peers.

The revolution will not be won by those still waiting for crumbs from the table of their fathers. It will be won by those brave enough to reject the false choice between “respecting elders” and building their own future.

[Brian Halligan @bhalligan]

I don't remember where I found this, but its spot on.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Tesla

[TLcom @TLcomCapital]

The climate risk no one has priced: 33 million smallholder farms that feed 70% of Africa. Few legacy insurers have the data infrastructure to price risk at the base of Africa's agricultural pyramid. The gap is structural. The opportunity is monopoly economics.

Enter @AdvisorsPula , founded by @njerutom and @rosegos , which is an embedded parametric insurance solution that serves aggregators, supporting millions of smallholders across Africa, and beyond.

The infrastructure scarcity creates a defensible advantage.

We sat down with @njerutom , who shared his story, the journey and the lessons learned as they underwrite Africa's food security as a systemic imperative.

Read the full story here: https://t.co/7pfeja7NXr

#InsurTech #ClimateTech #AgTech #RiskManagement #SupplyChain #GlobalFoodSecurity

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Grok is solid

[Camus @newstart_2024]

Novak Djokovic shut down the “mental toughness is a gift” myth in 90 seconds of pure gold.

Interviewer: “Your mental strength is your greatest gift.”

Djokovic: “I have to correct you. It’s not a gift. It’s work. Every single day.”

He trains his mind like his serve:

- Conscious breathing under maximum pressure

- Feels the full storm of doubt & fear EVERY match

- Rejects the fake “just think positive” nonsense

“I acknowledge it. I might scream. Then I reset — fast.”

The difference between 24 Slams and everyone else?
How quickly you leave the darkness.

This isn’t motivation porn.
This is the actual operating system of the greatest ever.
Watch with sound — it will rewire how you think about pressure.

[EWPrice @E_W_Price]

Economy: From 2014 through 2024, Canada per capita real (i.e., after inflation), GDP grew 0.5% TOTAL vs comparable export-driven social welfare economies Australia (8.1%), Norway (7.4%), not to mention the US (20.7%). Don't trust me? Ask the cbc: https://t.co/csnBfhgrDO

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🚨12 HOUR NEWS RECAP

1. Trump paused all military aid to Ukraine, escalating tensions days after his heated Oval Office meeting with Zelensky. A senior Defense Department official says the halt will remain until Ukraine shows a "good-faith commitment to peace."

2. Marine Le Pen said that France can't promise NATO membership for Ukraine "when we know that this option was a justification for Russian aggression and is now clearly rejected by the United States."

3. Trump signed an executive order doubling tariffs on Chinese imports from 10% to 20%, citing China's failure to "take adequate steps to alleviate the illicit drug crisis."

4. Toymakers are scrambling after Trump's 20% tariff hike on Chinese imports, with price hikes now inevitable. The Toy Association is pushing for an exemption, and with U.S manufacturing practically nonexistent, there's nowhere left to turn.

5. China hit back at Trump's tariff hike by slapping fresh tariffs on U.S goods, hitting American farmers where it hurts - with up to 15% hikes on wheat, corn, soybeans, meat, and more.

6. Romanian MEP Georgiana Teodorescu said that her country was no longer a true democracy: "In Romania, they canceled the elections last December; last week, we had also the arrest of the independent candidate, Mr. Georgescu. So now we are trying to have new presidential elections, but we are not sure if, this time, the Constitutional Court will allow free elections to happen."

7. China's Zuchongzhi-3 quantum chip left classical computing in the dust, running tasks a quadrillion times faster than today's top supercomputers. According to researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, it crushes Google's latest quantum benchmark by 6 orders of magnitude.

8. A nonprofit was raking in $18 million a month to run a migrant facility in Texas - one that's been sitting empty. Elon's DOGE called it out, and now the contract is dead.

9. Belgium plans to accelerate its defense spending, reaching 2% of GDP this year - the NATO minimum. Previously set for 2029, it marks a historic first for Belgium, which currently spends only 1.3% of GDP on defense.

10. Serbian opposition deputies set off smoke grenades inside parliament, disrupting a session in protest against government policies. The dramatic stunt was also a show of support for student-led demonstrations sweeping the country.

[Catherine Herridge @C__Herridge]

EXCLUSIVE: Our full, unedited interview with Secretary of State Marco Rubio(@SecRubio) on his first 30 days leading the Department.

Restarting U.S./Russia relations following the Biden Administration, direct engagement with Ukraine, U.S. proposal for Gaza, preventing Iranian nuclear weapons, China, Canada, and the emerging role of independent media.

00:28 Hamas, Israel, and Gaza reconstruction
03:28 First 30 days
07:45 @DOGE at State Department 
13:00 Cartels terrorist designation 
15:30 US Russia talks/War in Ukraine
19:00 Push back on President Zelensky, Europeans not consulted
25:00 President Trump is only global leader who can end the Russia/Ukraine war
25:45 Preventing a nuclear armed Iran
27:15 President Trump's instructions if he were assassinated by Iran
28:30 China 
30:00  COVID-19 lab leak
37:15 Havana Syndrome
36:00 Canada: 51st State?
40:00 Independent Media vs Legacy Media

[Thomas Njeru @njerutom]

My hypothesis is that people from Central are only loyal to a President who grows the economy given their dominant occupation - biashara. I think the economy is struggling yet they were sold dreams by the KK regime, hence the anger. It’s not a tribal thing. The hypothesis also explains why they even ignored Uhuru’s candidate - they didn’t think their son performed well on the economy score so he didn’t have the right to tell them who to vote for.

[Thomas Njeru @njerutom]

@ActusDei Motilal Oshwal mid cap fund

[Thomas Njeru @njerutom]

Let’s go back to economics 101 @wnyakera. In the Wealth of Nations Adam Smith talks about Consumer Sovereignty and emphasizes that trade should serve the consumer not the producer. Government should encourage Free trade, by allowing consumers to buy from the cheapest source, ensures that resources are allocated in a way that maximizes consumer benefit. Smith was against protectionist measures like tariffs because they prevented countries from specializing according to their absolute advantages. He believed that such policies were often lobbied for by businesses seeking monopolistic benefits at the expense of the general public's welfare. Protectionism, in his view, led to inefficiencies, higher consumer prices, and ultimately, a less prosperous society.

I believe it’s high time Safaricom figures out how to adopt the new technology or be outcompeted. Of course, it is the role of government to ensure Starlink localizes its operations for maximum economic benefit for Kenyans but I’m against the argument of protecting Safaricom. There’s no logic in that line of reasoning. They outcompeted Telcom and it’s their turn now.

[PulaAdvisors @AdvisorsPula]

@RoyalWayMedia

[PulaAdvisors @AdvisorsPula]

Thrilled to announce our CEO, Thomas Njeru, has been named to the TIME100 Next list! Under his leadership, we've transformed agri-insurance, protecting 15M smallholder farmers and insuring $2.22B across 19 countries. Congrats, Thomas, and the Pula team!
#TIME100Next #Pula

[Nature is Amazing ☘️ @AMAZlNGNATURE]

Elephant gives birth in the Masai Mara reserve in Kenya

[Thomas Njeru @njerutom]

Sounds simple, but it’s super difficult to implement.
Else, very important.

[Lord Abraham Mutai @ItsMutai]

True

[Wasil Ali - واصل علي @wasilalitaha]

October 25, 2021: Burhan & Hemedti collectively stage a coup to oust civilian government because they think civilians were horrible

April 15, 2023: Burhan & Hemedti go into war against each other because each of them think the other is horrible

[PulaAdvisors @AdvisorsPula]

@AdvisorsPula 's 2023 Q1 #newsletter is out!
To read more about the above, insights and reflections from our CEO, @njerutom, through our recently launched #Podcast, #PulaCast check out this newsletter: https://t.co/4LmdMFONny