The Nairobi Securities Exchange’s list of wealthy investors from Central Kenya is topped by well-known billionaires residing in Rwathia village, Kangema constituency in Murang’a county.
They are not far off when they claim that “Murang’a county is a home of millionaires or rather billionaires.”
The county is well-known for its well-known sons who, in Nairobi’s equally well-known Kirinyaga, Grogan, and River Roads and the Nyamakima neighbourhoods, rose from poverty to wealth through fortitude and hard work.
Murang’a businessmen attribute their success to lucrative trading in the oil, finance, stock market, real estate, and commodities.
In a financial survey that was initiated by Murang’a fathers in the early 1900s, statistics show that the top five investors from the county control at least Sh50 billion of the value of their declared shares, and even more when the unregistered shares they own are taken into account.
It is however interesting to note that there is little development in a county that has hailed billionaires, one may want to question how Nakuru was made a city before Murang’a county putting into consideration the little investment done with a home of at least six business tycoons who are; James Mwangi currently serves as Equity Group Holdings Limited’s group managing director and chief executive officer.
He was hired at the age of 31 to wind up the insolvent organization, which was losing Sh5 million annually, by the chairman and CEO of Equity Building Society (EBS).
He attended the University of Nairobi, where he earned a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom).
Mwangi is thought to be valued at more than Sh10 billion. This comes from his ownership of Equity, Britam, and numerous other undisclosed holdings.
Benson Wairegi holds the position of British-American Investments Company’s group managing director and group chief executive officer (Britam).
He began working with British-Americans as the Chief Accountant when he was 24 years old.
He graduated from the University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA), with a focus on Accounting and Finance. As a Certified Public Accountant, he also (CPA).
Wairegi is also a top individual shareholder at Equity, with a 0.25 per cent stake.
Jimnah Mbaru now serves as chairman and CEO of the Dyer and Blair Investment bank, where he also holds the bulk of the stock.
The 69-year-old has a BCom in business administration from the University of Nairobi.
Mbaru worked in several roles for the government before departing in 1980 to work in the private sector.
In order to manage the banking sector, he then established various banks, including Jimba Credit Corporation Limited, Union Bank of Kenya Limited, and Kenya Savings & Mortgages Limited, all of which were taken over by the administration of the late president Daniel arap Moi.
Gerishon Kirima and Gerald Gikonyo inspired Munga, Mwangi, and Wairegi to collaborate as men from the same village, Rwathia, the two co-founded Rwathia Distributors.
The Mystery of Success, a 2014 article by Dr. Bitange Ndemo, points out that Rwathia controls approximately 20 per cent of the GDP and nearly half of the stock market in the nation.
“It is arguable that one town controls close to 40 per cent of Kenya’s stock market and close to 20 per cent of the country’s GDP.
“Despite having little formal schooling, their ancestors, like Gerald Gikonyo, one of the co-founders of Rwathia Distributors, and Gerishon Kirima, were successful. Third-generation Rwathia is prospering, not just in Kenya but also in far-off places like the United States.
The late businessman Chris Kirubi, was an industrialist, and philanthropist. He was the largest individual shareholder of Centum Investment Company Limited, where he serves as a director.
Kirubi’s actual net worth can be considerably higher than Sh10 billion.
Peter Munga, the retiring Chairman of the Equity Group, leaves the stage after creating business history in Kenya. He founded Equity Bank, and his own share in the institution is thought to be worth more than a billion shillings. He has other investments worth billions of shillings in Britam and other companies.
With an estimated net worth of more than Sh10 billion, Munga is most certainly the richest Murang’a billionaire.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) gross county product (GCP) 2021 reports Murang’a was not among the five top counties.
Nairobi, Kiambu, Mombasa, Nakuru, and Meru- the top five counties are contributing 46.9 per cent of total wealth created by the 47 counties, with the top 10 contributing about 60 per cent of the national wealth.
“On the other hand, the bottom 10 contributed a paltry 4.6 per cent of value-added. Further, 33 out of 47 counties accounted for less than 2 per cent of contribution each to the economy,” it stated.
The capital continues to be highly favoured in terms of productivity, followed by other counties with important towns.
The analysis, which analysed counties’ output between 2013 and 2020 and examined activities that are driving economies in different counties, made this observation.
The research attributed some counties’ extraordinarily high output to diverse economic activity, enormous populations, and sophisticated agriculture, whereas dry and semi-arid regions had low growth.