‘Guru’ Raval, Chairman of Kenya’s Devki Group is often asked to explain his name. A title reserved for spiritual advisors; ‘Guru’ is a puzzling moniker for the head of a building materials conglomerate. For Guru though, work and spirituality have always been intertwined. Born into a devout Hindu family in Kenya; Raval spent his youth meditating and serving the poor at Nairobi’s largest temple.
After thirteen years of service, he was poised to become the “Guru of his community. Instead, he built Devki Group, the largest family owned business in East and Central Africa. The “Guru” title stuck. “I felt that to truly serve people in need, I had to have the right resources”, explains Guru. “I wanted to build a business that would give me the means to help the community”.
Devki started in 1986 as a small steel factory in Nairobi’s crime-ridden district of Gikomba. It has branched out from steel to include the subsidiary – ‘National Cement Company Limited’ – IFC’s newest client in Kenya. This year, International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) invested $70 million (Sh6.2 billion) in National Cement to multiply its production capacity five times to 1.7 million tonnes per year. The expansion will create over 6,000 jobs, and benefit entrepreneurs who provide general services to the company. Sub Saharan Africa’s steady economic growth has created demand for roads, housing, commercial spaces and other concrete structures. Yet, only a handful of local companies produce cement. Globally, sub Saharan Africa remains the largest importer of cement. IFC’s partnership with National Cement is a step towards increasing local supply of the vital commodity. Oumar Seydi, IFC Director for Eastern and Southern Africa said, “IFC’s investment in National Cement will increase local supply of cement, providing building blocks for East Africa’s infrastructure. We would like to send a strong signal of IFC’s confidence in a Kenyan company making a difference in the local economy.” National Cement will, as has become its practice, use its profits to serve local communities. The company’s education fund benefits over 4,000 pastoralist families in Kenya. Guru speaks with particular joy about their recent community project, which brought fresh water from Mt. Kilimanjaro via pipeline to one of Kenya’s driest villages.
He recalls fondly, “the children in these neighborhoods had never experienced the happiness of sweetwater!” Guru pauses for a moment and adds, “It’s at these times that I feel I am being rewarded for my work. Yes, business and helping the community can go very well together, if that’s what we set out to do.”
Courtesy of ifc.org
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