Meet Rai, the man producing half of Kenya's sugar
Jaswant Singh Rai.
At least half of the sugar produced in Kenya is now controlled by one man after the billionaire Rai family opened their fourth milling plant in Bungoma.
Naitiri Sugar Company which started milling in May is the new addition to the family’s sugar conglomerate that now spans the country.
The new plant extends Rai’s position as the leading sugar manufacturer from a combined capacity of his existing three mills of West Kenya, Olepito, and Sukari.
The new player is adding at least 6,000 tonnes of sugar per day, a move that will increase the supply of the commodity in the country and cut cheap imports.
Data from the Sugar Directorate indicates that Rai’s sugar factories controlled up to 43 percent of the total production in the country in the 10 months to October last year.
The fall of Mumias, which controlled nearly 60 percent of the country’s total sugar production at its prime, and the collapse of some state-owned millers have left the space that is now being filled by the private sector.
The companies, which are led by their chairman Jaswant Rai, have expanded their cane catchment area to as far as Trans-Nzoia and Uasin Gishu Counties- the regions that are predominantly maize growing.
