Laura Akunga Biography
Laura Akunga is the founder and CEO of Benchmark Solutions Limited. She was appointed the vice chairperson of the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) an initiative of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She came to the limelight when he gifted her husband a 10 million car during his 30th birthday.
She was also selected for the 2015 Fortune/ U.S. State Department Global Women,s Mentoring Partnership. She was a mentee for two weeks in May 2015, splitting assignments between Xerox Corporation with Barbara Basney and Young and Rubicam with Shelley Diamond.
Laura Akunga Education Background
2005-2009: Undergraduate student at The United states International University, Bachelor’s Degree in International Business Administration and Finance.
Secondary school student at Limuru Girls Secondary school.
Laura Akunga Job History
June 2007- Present: Founder and CEO of Benchmark Solutions Limited.
Benchmark Solutions is a global powerhouse focused on arranging specialized financial solutions for banks, governments and private companies across various sectors in Africa. We are the intermediary between lenders and borrowers seeking finances through debt and equity financial options with a minimum appetite of $30 million. Our core sectors of interest are real estate, banking, infrastructure, oil and gas, agri-business, energy, aviation, education, health and information technology sectors. In fiscal 2014, Benchmark Solutions arranged transactions to a tune of $1 billion in favor of its clients. We are members of the Loans Market Association (LMA)
and the Asian Pacific Loans Market Association (APLMA) the authoritative voice in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asian loans market. We are on a mission to transform Africa one business at a time through the projects that we are engaged in.
Laura Akunga Awards and Honours
2010: She won the Young African Woman Entreprenuer of the year
She was named among the Top 40 Women under 40 in Kenya by Business Daily Africa in 2014.
Laura Akunga Family; Husband
She is married to Mark Mwenje who is an advocate at the high court. She rewarded him with a 10 million car on his birthday when he was turning 30 years.
birthday gift
Laura Akunga Scandal
A week ago, Laura Akunga was a businesswoman and a wife living a quiet life away from public scrutiny.
That was until last Sunday when she posted on Facebook that she had bought her husband a high-end Land Cruiser VX as a birthday gift.
Photos and a video showing how she unveiled the gift — whose value was given as Sh10 million — would have been an inspirational love story, a magnet for relationship jokes and a marketing strategy for her company, Benchmark Solutions.
Barely 24 hours after the post that inspired widespread news reports and social media comments, bloggers like Robert Alai attempted to burst her bubble by pointing at inconsistencies between her story and previous media interviews.
It was a sign of things to come and a reality check that online publicity is a double-edged sword that can make, or unmake, you.
Soon after, there were allegations that she was a tax defaulter, forcing her to post Kenya Revenue Authority compliance certificates on Thursday to clear her name.
Matters turned for the worse when businessman Sriram Bharatam emerged with court documents pertaining to a suit he and his firm filed at the High Court in March 31 over a Sh17 million debt allegedly owed by Ms Akunga and her company.
Mr Bharatam alleges that she took money from him on various dates between January 31, 2013 and August 28, 2013.
He claims to have separately given her $98,953 (Sh9.9 million) and another $81,441 (Sh8.1 million) from Iridium Interactive Ltd, where he is a director.
He said that after giving a series of excuses for not paying him back, she stopped communicating with him and his company in October 2013.
In her defence filed in court, which the Sunday Nation has seen, Ms Akunga admits getting money from the businessman as a result of what she calls family friendship.
“Ms Akunga and Mr Bharatam had a strong friendship, which friendship included their families and professional associates. As a result of his family friendship, Mr Bharatam frequently loaned money to Ms Akunga,” says her lawyers in a statement of defence presented to court on May 29.
‘FRIVOLOUS, SCANDALOUS’
Responding to a claim by Mr Bharatam that he gave her $3,529 (Sh351,412) in April 2013 to help her keep her business afloat, she says: “[Mr Bharatam and his company Iridium] voluntarily offered their assistance on the basis of the social and professional association.”
Also, Ms Akunga claims Mr Bharatam owes her amounts that add up to $605,400 (Sh60 million) which were accrued on various dates for “linkage services” and financial assistance.
She dismisses as “frivolous, scandalous and vexatious” Mr Bharatam’s claims that she had lied to him that her mother sits on the board of her company and that she draws a salary.
As the legal tussle goes on at the Milimani commercial court, Nairobi, public opinion is divided on whether her decision to announce the gift to her husband was warranted and whether she is being victimised.
Some of the people who have interacted with Ms Akunga say she is exemplary.
One of them is Ms Esther Kinuthia, whose website missindependent.co.ke carries a 3,931-word article authored by Ms Akunga and published on April 7.
In the article, Ms Akunga states how she developed her entrepreneurship skills at the age of 12; the sadness that followed her father’s death when she was 19; and how she founded her company after quitting her first job.
She explains that the firm’s initial focus was corporate branding and marketing and that she has served 201 institutions across Kenya, South Sudan and China, among other countries.
Ms Kinuthia told the Sunday Nation on Saturday that they became friends after she encouraged Ms Akunga to speak when stagefright hit her before an audience at the Michael Joseph Centre in Nairobi.
“Laura has been inspiring me in my journey as a blogger and entrepreneur. In fact, she has chosen missindependent.co.ke to share her entrepreneurial lessons with my readers, who are facing 40 per cent youth unemployment,” she said.
Asked for a comment on the controversies facing Ms Akunga, she said: “I have seen a lot of comments from various people across different platforms and I am sure Laura will get her chance to share her side of the story soon.”
Ms Abigael Sayo attended two events where Ms Akunga spoke. She said the embattled businesswoman sounded convincing “unlike Mr Heshan de Silva whose story didn’t seem to add up when I attended an event organised by the African Talent Tank in 2014”.
Mr de Silva, who has for years been reported to be one of Kenya’s youngest billionaires, announced he would assume a low profile earlier this year after questions were raised about the authenticity of his purported wealth.
Mr Mike Nyangi said he was working at a private primary school where Ms Akunga went. “She was quite bright, just like her siblings. She has worked her way up. Sometimes you work hard and people want to pull you down. I really feel sorry for her.”
Amid the buzz, Ms Akunga has preferred to keep a low profile. We contacted her office on Tuesday and a receptionist said she was not ready to talk. She has also deleted six of the eight photos that told the story of the birthday gift — plus the video.
Her experience evokes memories of Mr de Silva, who — unlike her — often gave interviews to different media outlets where he presented an image of an established entrepreneur who has built a fortune, until his publicists disowned him via social media in April.
Source: Daily Nation
Laura Akunga Photo
Laura Akunga
Laura Akunga Video
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