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President Uhuru held talks with former President Daniel Moi at State House, Nairobi:It was not an easy task to limit this article to only ten people. After all, Kenya is full of contenders for the ‘richest person’ category.
Who are the Richest of the Rich in Kenya?
Many people know that Kenya is one of the richest African countries. Its wealth can be seen not only in its GDP (which is $70.53 billion, by the way) but also in the sheer amount of wealthy people that live there. Today, we want to tell you about ten richest people in Kenya, whose wealth is simply unimaginable. Find out who the richest man in Kenya is, and who came awfully close to claiming this title.
It was not an easy task to limit this article to only ten people. After all, Kenya is full of contenders for the ‘richest person’ category. That said, you can learn more about the richest man in Kenya at the end of this article, as we will be counting down all the way from number ten, who is…
10. Charles Njonjo
We want to start off our list with this businessman and former politician, who is easily richer than most people in Kenya. Over the course of his life, Njonjo has invested in the automobile industry, agriculture, banking sector, insurance and so many other things that have brought him enormous riches.
Even though the age of the so-called Duke of Kabeteshire is nearing the century mark (the man was born in 1920, look it up), Charles is still very much alive and kicking. And he has managed to keep all his money, too, after all this time. A true legend.
9. Bhimji Depar Shah
Shah is the founder and CEO of BIDCO Group of Companies. His company is rumored to bring him a gross revenue of at least $500 million. Along with his son Vimal, he continues to rake in money, even though, just like the previously mentioned Charles, Bhimji Depar is a very old man (85 years is no joke).
8. Chris Kirubi
Chris’s name is probably among the most recognizable when it comes to the richest people in Kenya. For many years, he has been appearing in various ratings and rankings, outrunning other contenders by millions of dollars.
He owes his fortune to several investments and ventures, including (but not limited to) Haco Industries Ltd., DHL Express Kenya Ltd., 98.4 Capital FM, Centum Investments and many others. Chris is the chairperson of at least 10 companies.
7. James Mwangi and family
James is a very wealthy Kenyan banker, businessperson, entrepreneur, and accountant. Judging from the story of his early years, this is a self-made man. He came from a single-parent family, where his mother had to take care of six children on her own, so James has managed to build his wealth by himself.
These days, he and his wife are the owners of stock shared of Equity Group Holdings Ltd., as well as of Britam. This makes them one of the richest families in Kenya.
6. Raila Odinga
The current Leader of the Opposition in Kenya is also among the richest people in the country. Even though he is mostly involved in politics, Odinga is also involved in several business ventures, which have brought him immense wealth.
According to some rumors, Raila might actually be much richer than people have previously thought. It is said that his net worth could be as big as $29 billion. However, as those rumors have not been confirmed, he remains somewhere around the middle of this list.
5. Naushad Merali
Naushad is a very successful industrialist and businessperson. He is known to many for being filthy rich. Merali is the founder of Kencell (Kenyan cell phone service provider), chairperson of Sameer Group and a generally talented investor. He once managed to earn a profit of $20 million by simply buying shares of Vivendi and selling them to Celtel for a higher price.Apart from that, he is also a member of the National Investment Council, Kenya Export Promotion Council, World Economic Forum and various other boards and councils. His net worth is reported to be around $500 million.
4. Mama Ngina Kenyatta
The former First Lady has managed to earn a spot on this list, and she landed much higher than we could have expected. Most of her wealth came to her thanks to her late husband Jomo, but she has been able to build upon it.
These days, Mama Ngina invests in agriculture and grows coffee. She does not step out in the public eye often, but people have somehow managed to determine that her net worth is around $1 billion. Not bad for an 84-year-old woman!
3. Uhuru Kenyatta
As they say, an apple does not fall too far from the tree, and it is true for our number three, Uhuru Kenyatta. The son of Jomo and Mama Ngina, Uhuru is the current President of Kenya and a very wealthy individual.
In addition to being the President of Kenya, Kenyatta is also a successful businessperson. He has investments in energy, agriculture real estate, telecommunication, and banking, to name a few. Along with the rest of his family (not including his mother), he has managed to amass a net worth of over $1.2 billion.
2. Manu Chandaria
You have probably heard this name at least once. Chandaria is the CEO and chairperson of the Comcraft Group of Companies, which is a billion-dollar enterprise with a presence in more than 40 countries. At the age of 88, this man, like many others on this list, proves that knowledge, perseverance, and experience can turn a regular person into a billionaire.To this day, Manu remains an active member of several boards in various successful East African countries. One of Kenya’s leading industrialists is said to be worth $1.7 billion, a portion of which he shares with others through various philanthropies.
1. Daniel arap Moi
We have finally reached our number one, and it is none other than former President Moi (and his family). We are starting to sense a pattern here, as Moi is currently 93, but he shows no signs of letting anyone else take his crown of the richest Kenyan.
According to various sources, Daniel, along with his sons Gideon and Philip, is worth whopping $3 billion. However, he does not keep it all to himself. It is said that he spends around Ksh10 million on charity every year.
Most of the people on this list do not want to share the exact numbers concerning the sizes of their wealth (which is totally understandable). The numbers that are readily available are often old and unreliable, which makes it rather hard to make a definitive ranking of the richest Kenyans. Nevertheless, it is easy to see that Kenya is bursting with millionaires and billionaires, whose riches are simply unimaginable.
Source: Tuko.co.ke
