KCB VENTURE 1 final

COVER STORY
“It was very nice of
KCB Bank what they
did to me. That’s why
till today, I tell my
board of directors that
we will not ever leave
KCB Bank because
they understand
the Kenyan market,
they understand
the people, and the
business way of
Kenya. “
4,000
The number of
employees employed
directly by the Devki
Group. Thousands
more are employed
indirectly.
“All the riots were starting
around where our shop was,
on Kombo Munyiri road. We
endured a lot of tear gas”, says
Raval rather mistfully.
He started off buying steel
from the existing mills and
within five years, his store
had become the largest steel
hardware shop in the area.
Having sold steel and seen
the margins manufacturers
were making, Raval decided
to backward integrate by
venturing into manufacturing.
At the time, there were only a
couple of steel rolling mills in
the country that basically had a
tight hold on the market.
Raval found a site in Athi
River, 30 kilometres from the
city centre, where he planned to
make his dream a reality. “We
bought 25 acres at Sh35,000
an acre. At the time, the
whole place was nothing but a
thick bush. Only Kenya Meat
Commission had established in
the area,” he says.
Having bought the land,
Raval was left penniless. He did
not even have enough money to
put up a boundary wall.
“I used a have a pick up
Toyota KXU 905 (today I don’t
remember the number plates
of any of my cars but this one
I remember which means
whoever stays with you in
difficult times you will never
forget them) that I used to
ferry stones from the quarry for
building the wall”, he says.
After the fencing project,
Raval approached KCB Bank
for financing to set up his steel
rolling mill. He had never done
a business plan before, but he
gave it a shot. It was shy of the
bank’s expectations and as a
result, he hired an expert who
helped him prepare a proper
plan.
A KCB Bank manager, whom
14 |