Key facts
- Employee theft is a significant problem for small businesses in Africa.
- That Girl Boina closed her Nairobi waxing studio due to employee theft.
- A PwC survey found 63% of East African organizations experienced economic crime.
- Nakumatt and Tuskys, large Kenyan retailers, collapsed partly due to employee theft.
- Hipora estimates employee theft accounts for over 60% of small business losses in East Africa.
- Cris Njoki discovered an employee inflating supplier prices for raw materials.
Employee theft is a pervasive issue significantly impacting small businesses across Africa, often leading to their downfall. That Girl Boina, a popular Kenyan food creator, was forced to close her waxing studio, Waxaholic Studio, after discovering an employee was diverting customer payments. The customer's message, received while Boina was on holiday, revealed that money was being sent to an unauthorized number. This discovery prompted Boina to investigate, revealing a decline in profits that she had initially dismissed. The incident led to the closure of the studio in October 2025, causing significant financial and emotional distress to Boina. Her subsequent sharing of the experience on TikTok went viral, drawing out similar stories from other African business owners. A 2022 PwC survey indicated that 63% of respondents in East Africa reported their organizations had experienced economic crime, a figure substantially higher than the global average of 46%. Large retailers like Nakumatt and Tuskys have also faced collapse, partly attributed to significant losses from employee fraud and stock theft. Hipora Business Solutions estimates that employee theft accounts for over 60% of losses recorded by small businesses in the region. Cris Njoki, founder of IKOJN, a Kenyan clothing brand, uncovered a scheme where an employee colluded with suppliers to inflate raw material prices. In Ghana, sports journalist Muftawu Nabila nearly lost his electronics shop due to an employee's large-scale theft, which he discovered when restocking the store.