From war zones to Kenya’s markets: How an ex-soldier built a $1bn lender

OPEYEMI KAREEM, in this feature, tells the story of how former British Army officer Wayne Hennessy-Barrett arrived in Kenya with little experience in finance and a simple question: what do small traders need to keep their businesses moving? Thirteen years later, that question has helped build 4G Capital into a lender that has disbursed more than $1bn in loans. Thirteen years ago, Wayne Hennessy-Barrett walked into Kenya’s informal markets with no bank, no loan book and, by his own admission, lit