Kenafric’s name is synonymous with candy in Kenya, but the company actually got its start manufacturing plastic shoes before it become Africa’s largest confectioner, according to a report HowWeMadeItInAfrica.
The family business, headed by Executive Director Mikul Shah, evolved from a small trading company to a multi-billion shilling enterprise selling its popular candy and footwear brands in 12 African countries with a staff of 2,000.
Founded in 1986, the company weathered a failed coup and unstable oil prices – oil and plastics are closely correlated -before the Shah family bought its first bubble gum machine from Taiwan and started production on a small scale. In the decade that followed, Kenafric built a strong brand and distribution network that took its candy and bubble gum all over Kenya.
“Today we are probably the largest producers of confectionary in Africa,” Shah told to HowWeMadeItInAfrica. Kenafric converts up to 36,000 tons of sugar into candy and gum each year.
In 2012, Kenafric bought a $11.5 million machine from Bosch in Germany that will increase its production capacity from about 1,500 tonnes a year to 8,500 tonnes in the next three years, according to a report in CapitalFM.
Kenafric plans to invest up to $46.3 million in 24 months, increasing its markets to more than 30 countries in Africa. Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Angola top the list of markets the company hopes to enter in the next three years, HowWeMadeItInAfrica reports.
As it expands, Kenafric is adopting new technology such as SAP that gives the company’s managers the ability work remotely. “I can be sitting in China and looking at my entire business on a dashboard and seeing where things are headed,” Shah said.
The Shah family emigrated to Kenya from India during the 1920-1940 economic depression. On arrival in Kenya, they adopted the surname Shah for easy identification. Educated in England, Shah joined the family business six years ago.
What’s down the road for Kenafric?
“Definitely the end result is an IPO (listing),” Shah said. “So we could always give our kids shares then they can be astronauts or whatever they want and still live a good life.”
Story by Dinfin Mulupi.
