'I cannot teach you integrity': How employee theft is hurting small businesses in Africa
Summary
Kenyan creator That Girl Boina says diverted customer payments and suspected employee theft contributed to falling revenue at her Nairobi waxing studio, which closed in October 2025. Her account drew responses from other Kenyan business owners, while a 2022 PwC survey found that 63% of East African respondents said their organisations had experienced economic crime.Key Facts
- Boina opened Waxaholic Studio in Nairobi on 1 September 2024.
- She hired a receptionist and two specialists and took a two-week trip to Europe.
- A customer told Boina that someone at the studio had asked them to send payment to a number different from the one displayed at the business.
- Boina said the studio's revenue began falling in early 2025, and she later decided to close it rather than confront the employees.
- Waxaholic Studio closed in October 2025 after Boina failed to find a buyer and sold some of its equipment.
- Boina shared a video about the experience on TikTok in September, nearly a year after the studio closed; the video was widely reposted and viewed.
- A 2022 PwC survey found that 63% of East African respondents said their organisations had experienced economic crime, compared with 46% globally.
- The article says employee theft was among the problems partly attributed to the collapse of Kenyan supermarket chains Tuskys and Nakumatt, alongside wider financial and operational issues.
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