S. OlawaleThere are several lists popping up all over the internet about who the richest women in Kenya are; some of them, however, quote outrageous and unbelievable figures. Make no mistake about it; there are women in Kenya with immense wealth to their names; women have their fair share of the wealth in the Kenyan nation.
Some of these powerful Kenyan women have had the wealth laid down for them for years, maybe decades, while others have only recently joined the big leagues. Making money as a woman in Kenya requires you to have a resounding name, intellectual abilities, and connections. When these factors align, wonders can happen as in the case of these women.
Top 10 Richest Women In Kenya
1. Mama Ngina Kenyatta
Mama Ngina Kenyatta, the widow of Kenya’s founding president and mother of President Uhuru Kenyatta. She is the matriarch of the great Kenyatta family and custodian to the biggest fortune in all of The Republic. Mama Kenyatta is a very powerful woman indeed; she sits at the head of several well-known Kenyan companies; including Brookside Dairy, Media Max Ltd, and Heritage Group of Hotels. Her family also has substantial interests in Timsale Holdings, Beta Health Care, and NCBA PLC.
Mama Kenyatta also owns vast landholdings amounting to around 115,000 hectares, aside from the two tea plantations she owns at Matu and Mangu, and other farms near the Tanzanian border. Her interests go on; she has a hand in real estate, banking, hospitality, technology, and so on.
2. Jane Wanjiru Michuki
Jane Michuki owes her wealth to her in-depth understanding of law and investment. She is the managing partner at Kimani and Michuki Advocates, and she makes a hefty haul of money through her law firm which is one of the foremost legal establishments in the country, with a specialty in company litigation.
Jane Wanjiru Michuki as a company law expert has all the information to make wealth at her fingertips, and it would be crazy not to become rich with it. She has strategic investments in diverse companies through the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). One of her notable investments is Britam Insurance.
3. Tabitha Karanja
Tabitha Karanja and her husband, Joseph Karanja built up their fortune from the bottom; they owned a hardware shop but decided to take the risk to scale up their business venture by establishing a brewery. That idea brought Keroche Breweries into being in 1997, and the KSh 500,000 gamble has paid off handsomely.
Now the Karanjas brewery business is worth more than KSh 8.5 billion, and the family is set for life. In fact, her daughter Anerlisa Mugai has recently established her own business of a similar model; Nero Limited produces premium drinking water.
4. Jane Wangui Njuguna
Jane Wangui Njuguna has been the supportive backbone of the Equity Group Holdings managing director James Mwangi. This beautiful and intelligent woman is one of the reasons why her husband is so successful; and she has proven her astute investment brain with a 1.62% equity in the lender, and also with other investments such as the Investment Firm Filimbi Ltd, Britam Insurance, and so many more.
This is a poster woman for young girls who want to combine secular success with happy family lives; she has won several awards for her business moves; while many of her husband’s awards can even be attributed to her.
5. Leah Wanjiku Muguku
Leah Wanjiku Muguku has a long and interesting story of her journey to billions. Most people know her as Nelson Muguku’s widow; but she was also his confidant, partner, and strategist. Leah Wanjiku Muguku left her teaching job in 1963 to manage the Muguku Poultry farm with her husband. That gamble has paid off immensely; the kind of money she controls now is far more than she could have ever managed if she had remained a teacher.
The Mugukus bought the 22-acre farm from a white vet doctor for KSh 100,000, and they went on to start a hatchery with a 9,000-egg incubator. Aside from that, they hit the success road early when they won a tender to supply eggs to State House, Kenya under the Jomo Kenyatta government.
Since then the Muguku farm has grown in size and scale; it has become the biggest poultry business in Kenya with a valuation in excess of KSh 3 billion, and a production capacity of about 500,000 chicks daily. The farm also produces milk. Leah Wanjiku also owns the KSh 3 billion ultra-modern Waterfront Mall in Karen, Nairobi county.
6. Catherine Nyongesa
Catherine Nyongesa is one of the richest women in Kenya. Interestingly, she is in the medical field. Catherine Nyongesa is a Kenyan physician and radiation oncologist. She is known as the founder, owner, and chief executive of Texas Cancer Centre, in Nairobi. For her education, she studied in Kenya and South Africa, and she has grown to become perhaps Kenya’s number one cancer specialist.
She worked for some time with the Kenyatta National Hospital, before collaborating with her husband (a US-based pharmacist) to found the Texas Cancer Centre in Nairobi. She has won several awards in recognition of her work, and in recognition of her contribution to society.
7. Esther Muchemi
Esther Muchemi is a beautiful and excellent career woman; one of the biggest in Kenya. She is an accountant, businesswoman, and entrepreneur. Esther Muchemi is the group chief executive officer of the Samchi Group of Companies. In her capacity as the head of Samchi she controls a conglomerate with diverse interests including; finance, telecommunications, hospitality, real estate, restaurants, and ICT.
8. Sadhna Thakrar
Sadhna Thakrar is the wife of Bharat Thakar; founder of WPP Scangroup; Kenya’s biggest marketing and advertising company. Together with her husband, she owns 13 percent of the company which is publicly traded, and which is valued at around KShs 14.2 billion. That puts her and her husband in control of a marketing behemoth with a presence in about 25 Sub-Saharan Africa.
She also manages Naiya Indian fashions, which is a fashion business in California, USA.
9. Mary Okello
Mary Okello is a popular name in Kenya, and she is also someone with an inspiring story to tell. She is the first woman to head a bank branch in Kenya; a feat she achieved in the 70s and ’70s. She is a very passionate person; she wants to contribute her quota to the development of society; which is why she founded Makini Group of Schools.
10. Zipporah Gathuya
Zipporah Gathuya is another one of the top Kenyan money women with a background in medical practice. She served as the Principal Surgeon at St. John Ambulance Kenya, for 21 years between 1996 and 2017. Now she is a consultant anesthetist, and she is said to earn around KSh 350 per year.
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Finally
The wealthiest women in Kenya are women of power who have made wise decisions in the course of their lives; including career choices, marriage partners, and investments. They are therefore worthy role models for the younger generation today.
Many Kenyan women have buttressed their reputations through active presence in notable fields such as business, education, and politics. Consequently, these industrious women have come to be regarded as the richest women in Kenya.