The NSE has over the years elevated number of Kenyan business people into the exclusive club of paper billionaires. This has helped the bourse retain its record as a direct route to fortune.
These investors picked select stocks and went in on them and have since reaped huge rewards, ranking among the wealthiest individuals in the country.
Compared to the likes of late Chris Kirubi, the late Naushad Merali, Peter Munga or James Mwangi who have built empires and seen them listed on the NSE, these reclusive business people have built up their wealth through consistent accumulation of free floating shares at the Nairobi bourse.
The have grown to establish portfolios of over Ksh2 billion. A majority of them amassed their wealth during the economic prosperity under the President Mwai Kibaki era.
In this segment, Whownkenya.com looks at a number of billionaires with huge shares at the NSE.
Amin Nanji Juma
Amin Nanji is one of the wealthiest individuals on NSE.
According to Business Daily, the reclusive billionaire owns about 15,686,175 shares of East Africa’s media powerhouse, Nation Media Group (NMG).
The value of his shares are reported to be well over Ksh3.5 billion. In 2013, he earnerd Ksh130 million from his stakes in NMG and Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) for the year ended December 2012. He owned a further 2 million shares in DTB.
Individuals privy to Amin Nanji’s investment strategy say he has since settled on publicly quoted equities as his key asset class. He is reported to be one of the largest stake holders at NMG at 8.1 per cent.
John Kibunga Kimani
Kimani is another reclusive billionaire with a portfolio worth over Ksh3 billion at the Nairobi bourse.
He is one of the largest individual shareholders in NMG, Safaricom, Kenya Re, Kakuzi and East African Breweries Limited (EABL).
Kimani is a retired civil servant and is actively engaged in agricultural consultancy while also earning millions of shillings in dividends from his stocks.
He holds 2.7 million shares in EABL and another 2.1 million shares in NMG. He also has 4.2 million shares in Kakuzi.
Kimani grew up in Kakuzi as his worked there. He has vast interests in other sectors outside the money market including transport, construction, and logistics.
Baloobhai Patel
He is the director of Pan Africa Insurance, and is one of the largest individual shareholders of more than 10 companies on NSE. He has shares in Pan African Insurance, Absa, DTB, Safaricom, all worth over Ksh3 billion.
Patel is also the owner of tour firm Trans-world Safaris where he is the managing director.
He has taken a general and long-term approach into his investment in the Nairobi bourse. He is known for not diluting his shares and has invested in various sectors of the economy cutting across agriculture, insurance, telecommunications, banking, manufacturing, and construction.
The billionaire is a known philanthropist and donates millions to Lions Club and Mombasa-based Pandya Memorial Hospital.
Sunil Shah
Unlike many of the investors who have made their billions from multiple shares, Shah is among those that have had a huge windfall from single stocks.
The former Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) director owns 53.4 million shares of KCB at NSE well worth over Ksh2 billion. According to Business Daily, he earned Ksh107.3 million in dividends for the year ended December 2012.
Shah is also the director of United Millers Ltd.
Karim Jamal
The reclusive investor hold shares in in KenGen, Eveready, Mumias, Sameer, and Uchumi.
Since 2006, Jamal steadily increased his stake in KenGen is reported to be the third largest investor in the power firm after the Treasury and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
Kanaksinh Babla
Balbla is an extremely reclusive billionaire and little of him is known to the public maybe except for the fact that he is one of the largest donors at Lions Club Kenya.
He is reported to own 6,181,020 shares in EABL and close to 29 million shares in KCB well worth about Ksh2.5 billion.
Bharat Thakrar
He is one of the wealthiest individuals on NSE. He is the founder and CEO of Scangroup, East Africa’s largest marketing services group.
The company offers services such as Advertising and Communication Services in Traditional Advertising, Media Investment Management, Marketing Consultancy, Public Relations and Experiential Marketing.
Scan Group owns Ogilvy East Africa, McCann Erickson Kenya and Lowe Scanad Kenya.
The billionaire has 54,811,360 shares in the company well worth over Ksh3.6 billion.
