Just over a week ago, I sat down with Mark Kaigwa — someone I’ve known, admired, and watched shape Kenya’s digital space over the years — for what turned out to be my longest podcast episode ever on the Pure Digital Passion Podcast . 

We went deep. One hour and forty minutes deep.

But more than just the length, what stood out was the substance. This wasn’t just a conversation about digital trends in Kenya and beyond. It was a conversation about what we’ve been getting wrong — and what we’re finally beginning to get right — in Kenya’s rapidly evolving digital landscape.

The Origin Story: From Storyteller To Strategist

Mark’s journey into the digital arena didn’t begin in marketing. It started with stories. Raised in a household of artists, musicians, designers, and educators, creativity wasn’t something he stumbled into — it was part of his DNA.

He cut his teeth working in film production and scriptwriting, with one of his early gigs being for none other than Warner Bros. Interactive. That global exposure, coupled with a relentless curiosity about how Kenyans and Africans use technology, set the stage for something more.

After a stint as a copywriter in an ad agency, Mark realised there was a massive gap between the ideas being pushed by brands, and what actual Kenyan consumers were doing and feeling online. That disconnect is what led him to start Nendo — a firm that would be insight-first, Africa-centric, and brutally honest about what works and what doesn’t in digital.

Megabytes as Currency

One of the most powerful ideas that came up in our conversation is a signature Nendo insight: megabytes are currency.

Let’s be honest — most Kenyans don’t have the luxury of unlimited data. Every second online, every click, every scroll costs actual money. That means decisions aren’t just made based on interest — they’re made based on affordability.

Why click on an outbound link if it’s going to burn through your daily bundle? Why watch a full video when a meme does the job for less? Why install a 120MB app when your phone’s storage is full?

This is the economic reality that defines digital behaviour in Kenya — and one that’s often ignored by marketers building for WiFi-connected devices in boardrooms, not bandwidth-conscious consumers on the ground.

Kenya’s App Graveyard

Mark and I also explored what he calls Kenya’s app graveyard — the long list of apps that brands have launched with excitement and funding, only to realise a few months later that no one is using them.

The hard truth? People don’t want more apps. They want fast, simple, mobile web experiences that load quickly and don’t demand unnecessary downloads or permissions.

In a world where data is expensive, and phones are packed with essentials like WhatsApp and Facebook Lite, apps need to earn their place — and most don’t.

Listening Without Mentions

One of Mark’s strongest points came when we got into social media listening — a buzzword that’s often misunderstood. According to him, the most valuable insights online aren’t found in hashtags or direct mentions. They’re found in the unbranded conversations — the things people say without tagging anyone, the comments that reveal how a brand feels, not just how it performs. Basically, if your social team or agency is only tracking your brand name and campaign hashtags, you’re flying blind!

TikTok, Mashinani Mavens & The Rise of Real Influence

When we started talking about TikTok, I could feel the energy shift. Mark described how TikTok has overtaken Facebook in usage — not just in Nairobi, but deep in rural and peri-urban Kenya.

He introduced a term that I think is going to stick: “Mashinani Mavens”. These are the grandmothers, kiosk owners, market traders, and school kids creating content in their own vernacular languages, style, and rhythm — and getting surfaced by TikTok’s powerful algorithm.

This is the creator economy no one’s tracking. It’s raw, authentic, and locally rooted. It’s also completely outside the influence of advertising agencies and big-budget influencers. And yet, it’s where culture is actually being shaped.

Sports Betting, Phoenix Browser & The Algorithmic Newsroom

One of the more sobering parts of our conversation was around sports betting — and how it has become one of the most dominant digital behaviours in Kenya and especially with the youth. 

Mark shared that the most Googled word in Kenya for over a decade has been a sports betting company. That revelation hit hard. It shows just how deeply embedded sports betting has become in Kenya’s digital lives — and just how quietly a potential digital public health crisis is unfolding behind our screens.

We also discussed platforms like Opera News, Scooper, and Phoenix Browser — apps that many in corporate Kenya have never heard of, but which now serve as the algorithmic newsroom for millions of Kenyans. The content may not come from “traditional” media houses, but it dominates digital attention.

Zero-Click Content & AI As A Problem-Solver

Another insight from Mark that really landed with me was the idea of “zero-click content.” This is the new reality where platforms don’t want users to leave — they want them to stay put. Content that lives inside the platform wins. Links that take you away lose.

It’s a complete reversal of everything we thought we knew about digital marketing. Forget Click-Through-Rates (CTRs) and referral traffic — engagement is now native.

On AI, Mark isn’t jumping on the hype train — but he sees real, practical applications: replacing outdated USSD menus with intelligent, conversational interfaces, creating tools like “MsaniiGPT” that could generate culturally relevant marketing content, and using machine learning to better understand Kenyan audiences.

Final Thoughts: Don’t Assume. Ask First.

Mark’s closing reflections were simple but profound: Question everything. Localise everything. Test everything.

Too much of our digital thinking in Kenya is imported, cut-and-pasted from case studies and conference decks that weren’t built for our context. But Kenya — and Africa — have unique digital cultures. And if we want to build things that work here, we need to start with insight, not assumptions.

This conversation was a reminder of just how much we don’t know — and how much we still need to unlearn if we want to build for real impact.

If you’ve been in the digital trenches in Kenya, or are trying to understand the true shape of our increasingly digital-first behaviours, this is the one podcast episode you can’t miss! I’ll say it again — this episode is quite frankly epic! 

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