Myra Kivuvani Ndung’u
Myra Kivuvani Ndung’u is a Kenyan entrepreneur and co-founder–director of Le Grenier à Pain Kenya, the first African franchise of the celebrated Parisian bakery chain. A Strathmore University marketing graduate, she spent a decade running digital campaigns for FMCG brands before turning a pandemic-era home-baking hobby into a full-time calling. In 2021 she secured franchise rights, trained at the École de Boulangerie et de Pâtisserie de Paris, and, together with partner Cédric Chauvet, opened the flagship café-boulangerie at 9 Riverside, Nairobi, in September 2022.
Under Myra’s leadership the bakery adheres to strict French AOP standards while sourcing 70 percent of its ingredients—flour, honey, fruit—from Kenyan cooperatives. She has built a 35-member, all-Kenyan team, each artisan trained for six months in traditional lamination, viennoiserie, and sourdough techniques. Daily queues for croissants, baguettes, and entremets prompted a second outlet at Westgate Mall in April 2025, with plans for a commissary kitchen to supply hotels across East Africa.
Committed to capacity-building, Myra created the Pain & Possibilities internship that has already graduated 40 young women from informal settlements into skilled pastry roles. Named to Business Daily’s Top 40 Under 40 Women list in 2024, she continues to blend marketing savvy with culinary passion, proving that world-class French baking can thrive—Kenyan-made—on the continent.