Kenya’s largest landowners, Kenyatta family, face $8-million loss

The Kenyatta family, renowned as Kenya’s leading landowners, has seen the market value of their stake in NCBA Group slump by more than $8 million in less than three weeks due to the decline in the shares of the financial services conglomerate.

According to data tracked by Billionaires.Africa, the Kenyatta family, which ranks among Kenya’s wealthiest families, has witnessed a staggering decrease of Ksh1.16 billion ($8.14 million) in the market value of their stake in the NCBA Group over the past 19 days as investors on the local bourse continue to reduce their stakes.

NCBA Group, a prominent financial services conglomerate headquartered in Nairobi, operates across Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Cote d’Ivoire.

Established in 2019 through the merger of NIC Bank Group and Commercial Bank of Africa Group, the company boasts partial ownership by the Kenyatta, Merali, and Ndegwa families.

Through their late father’s estate, Jomo Kenyatta, the Kenyatta family owns an impressive 13.2-percent stake in NCBA Group, equivalent to 217,497,023 ordinary shares.

Since Aug. 4, NCBA shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange have slumped by 12.83 percent, declining from Ksh41.70 ($0.2885) on Aug. 4 to Ksh36.35 ($0.2515) at the time of writing, thus leading to losses amounting to millions of dollars for its shareholders, including the affluent Kenyatta family.

As a result of the double-digit percent slump in the group’s share price, the market value of the stake held by the leading landowners has slumped by Ksh1.16 billion ($8.14 million) in a span of 19 days, from Ksh9.07 billion ($63.41 million) on Aug. 4 to Ksh7.91 billion ($55.28 million) at the time of writing.

Despite the recent decline in the market value of their stake, the family remains one of the richest investors on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and one of the most affluent families in East Africa.