2025 List of Richest People in Kenya and How Their Wealth Is Estimated

Updated 26 October 2026

Who is the richest person in Kenya? The honest answer is that nobody knows for certain, because most of the country’s big fortunes sit in private family companies, land and trusts that never publish audited accounts. What we do have are a handful of estimates, and they do not always agree. This guide pulls together the most widely cited 2025 ranking, explains how those numbers were worked out, and shows why Kenya does not appear on the Forbes list of African dollar billionaires.

Does Kenya have any dollar billionaires?

Not on the Forbes list. Forbes published its 2025 list of Africa’s billionaires in late March 2025, with net worths measured on March 7, 2025. It named 22 people from South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The only East African on it was Tanzania’s Mohammed Dewji, at about USD 2.2 billion. Kenya had nobody. The 2026 Forbes Africa list, published in April 2026 with values taken on March 1, 2026, again has no Kenyan.

Kenyans have appeared before. Bidco’s Vimal Shah was listed in 2013, and he publicly disputed the figure. Business Daily reported that Forbes later dropped him because it attributed the Bidco fortune to his father, founder Bhimji Depar Shah, and the wider family. Uhuru Kenyatta was on the first Forbes Africa list in 2011 and was dropped the next year, because Forbes did not treat him as the custodian of the Kenyatta family’s wealth.

The Africa Wealth Report 2025 by Henley and Partners and New World Wealth reached the same conclusion from a different angle. It counted no dollar billionaires in Kenya, but about 6,800 dollar millionaires and 16 centi-millionaires, meaning people with at least USD 100 million in liquid investable wealth. That is roughly KSh 12.9 billion each.

The 2025 list of richest people in Kenya

The most detailed public ranking for 2025 came from Billionaires.Africa, which published its list of Kenya’s 30 richest people on March 15, 2025. The table below shows its top 10. Figures are in US dollars as published, with a rough Kenya shilling value at about KSh 129 to the dollar.

The same list places Jaswant Singh Rai of the Rai Group (West Kenya Sugar, Timsales, Rai Paper) at USD 45 million, investor Baloobhai Patel at USD 40 million, Kenafric chairman Bharat Shah at USD 35 million, Comcraft’s Manu Chandaria at USD 30 million and Royal Media Services founder S.K. Macharia at USD 25 million. Its list ends at number 30 with Keroche co-founder Tabitha Karanja at USD 7 million.

A closer look at the top five

Bhimji Depar Shah

Bhimji Depar Shah founded Bidco, which started in 1970 as a garment maker, moved into soaps in 1985 and edible oils in 1991. It is now Kenya’s leading edible oil producer and sells in many African markets. His son Vimal Shah runs the business. Forbes last valued the founder at USD 700 million in 2015, and Billionaires.Africa’s lower 2025 figure reflects heavy discounts for private assets.

Narendra Raval

Narendra Raval founded Devki Group, the steel and cement group behind Devki Steel Mills and National Cement, maker of Simba Cement. The group bought ARM Cement in 2019. Forbes put his worth at USD 400 million in 2015. You can read more about him in our profile of the Devki Steel Mills owner.

Zarin Merali

Zarin Merali oversees the estate of her late husband Naushad Merali, the Sameer Group founder who died in 2021. According to Billionaires.Africa, the family holds about 74 percent of Sameer Africa, about 65 percent of Sasini and about 5.2 percent of NCBA Group.

Mama Ngina Kenyatta

As head of the Kenyatta family, Mama Ngina is linked to Brookside Dairy, a 13.2 percent stake in NCBA Group, large land holdings, Mediamax and the Northlands City project. Billionaires.Africa says its USD 210 million figure is what remains after allowing for liabilities, which is why it is far below the half a billion dollars often quoted for the family in the past.

Mary-Ann Musangi

Mary-Ann Musangi leads the estate of her late father Chris Kirubi, which includes stakes in Centum Investment, KCB Group, Haco Industries and Capital Media Group. Kirubi died in 2021.

Why these numbers are only estimates

Billionaires.Africa says it cut the value of private assets by 30 percent to reflect country risks such as currency swings, thin trading and political uncertainty, then applied a further 20 percent discount where a person’s debts are not public. That is why its numbers are lower than older Forbes figures and lower than some lists that circulate on social media.

Only a few Kenyan fortunes can be checked directly. Where someone owns shares in a company listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the stake is published in annual reports and the value moves with the share price. James Mwangi’s ranking, for example, rests mainly on his roughly 3.4 percent of Equity Group. Stakes in private firms such as Bidco, Devki or Naivas have no market price, so any value is a judgement. Henley and Partners also warns that its wealth report figures are modelled estimates, not exact counts.

If you want to follow listed fortunes yourself, our guide on how to buy shares on the NSE explains how the market works. For a sense of how a family business fortune can change hands, see our story on the supermarket sector and Naivas, whose founding family has sold minority stakes to IBL Group.

What the list tells you about wealth in Kenya

• Manufacturing built the biggest fortunes. Edible oils, steel and cement sit at the top.
• Family estates dominate. Several entries are heirs managing a founder’s holdings rather than the founder.
• Banking shares create visible wealth. Equity, I&M, NCBA and KCB stakes appear again and again.
• Land is huge but hard to value, which is why political families can rank lower than their acreage suggests.

Many of these groups are among Kenya’s largest private employers. If you are looking for work in manufacturing, banking or retail, browse current openings on JobinKenya.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the richest person in Kenya in 2025?

On the Billionaires.Africa ranking of March 2025, Bidco founder Bhimji Depar Shah was first at an estimated USD 420 million, about KSh 54.2 billion.

Is there a Kenyan billionaire?

Not in US dollars, according to Forbes and the Africa Wealth Report 2025. Several Kenyans are shilling billionaires many times over.

How many millionaires does Kenya have?

The Africa Wealth Report 2025 estimated about 6,800 dollar millionaires and 16 people worth at least USD 100 million.

Is Uhuru Kenyatta on the list?

Not by name. Forbes dropped him after 2011, and Billionaires.Africa ranks the family’s wealth under Mama Ngina Kenyatta.

Why do different lists give different numbers?

Most Kenyan wealth is in private companies and land with no public price, so each publisher uses its own assumptions and discounts.