Rai Group Dismisses Claims Of Shutting Down Operations In Kenya
The company went on to assure its business partners, stakeholders, employees, and farmers that it was not exiting the Kenyan market.
Marvin Chege 
The Rai Group of Companies owned by billionaire Jaswant Singh Rai has dismissed reports that emerged on social media over the weekend regarding the closing down of all its operations in Kenya.
Rai Group on Monday, September 25 termed the reports as "misinformation bordering on unhelpful propaganda coming at this time of severe economic challenges".
The company went on to assure its business partners, stakeholders, employees, and farmers that it was not exiting the Kenyan market.
Billionaire Jaswant Singh Rai and his brother Sarbi during a past appearance in Parliament. /FILE
“The management at Rai Group of Companies wishes to inform all its business partners, stakeholders including farmers, employees the media and indeed the general public that the information circulating on social media platforms to the effect that that Rai Group is closing down all its operations and is relocating to another country is, to say the least, regrettable misinformation bordering on unhelpful propaganda coming at this time of severe economic challenges,” read the statement in part.
The company also noted that it is aware of its contribution to the growth of the Kenyan economy through the creation of jobs, production of quality goods, and provision of services that circulate and are consumed both locally and internationally.
The Rai Group further said it would continue to maintain high standards of delivery in strict compliance with the regulatory, legal, and social expectations of its partners.
The reports claimed that the billionaire was closing down his business empire in Kenya and relocating to an unnamed country.
They had emerged on Saturday, September 23 and spread all the way to the following day, Sunday, September 24.
The news sparked fear among Kenyans who claimed that the exit would worsen the state of unemployment in the country given that thousands of employees would be sacked, a matter that would also cripple the sugarcane industry and leave farmers without a market for their harvested crops.
Rai was born in India and emigrated to Kenya in the 1970s where he kickstarted his career as a businessman by venturing into the fruits and vegetable industries. He later entered the sugar sector, founding the West Kenya Sugar Company in 1989, now among Kenya's biggest sugar producers.
The reclusive Kenyan billionaire businessman and chairman of the Rai Group- a conglomerate with interests in the sugar, real estate, and hospitality industries- is thought to control at least 43 per cent of Kenya's sugar business, with data from the Sugar Directorate indicating that he produces at least half of the sugar consumed in Kenya.
Rai is also the chairman of West Kenya Sugar/Kabras Millers in Malava, Kakamega, Sukari Industries of Ndhiwa in Homabay, Olepito Sugar at Tangakona in Busia and Naitiri Sugar in Bungoma county. He is also the founder of the Raiplywood Group, Kenya's leading producer of plywood and other wood products.
In 2022, the company opened Naitiri Sugar Company, their fourth sugar mill, in Bungoma. The Ksh6.3 billion ($44 million) facility, which has a daily production capacity of 6,000 tonnes of sugar, began operations in May.
According to Sugar Directorate Data from 2020, Rai Group held 45 per cent of the nation's total sugar sales. Sukari Industries came in at 11 per cent, West Kenya at 29 per cent, and Olepito at two per cent.
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