THE conventional wisdom is that it is impossible to run a manufacturing plant in Africa and compete effectively with imported Chinese goods. This may generally be true, but Kenya’s Kenafric has managed to do so.Senior executive director of Kenafric Mayur Shah and his three brothers have for the past three decades steadily built a manufacturing company that not only competes with Chinese imports, but also with huge international giants, Unilever and Wrigley.Kenafric makes a range of cheap, useful and high-volume products including PVC shoes, sweets, food products and stationery supplied to about 30 countries in Africa.The company was the East African winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award.It has not been an easy journey. Shah’s father came to Kenya from India in the 1950s and worked in a warehouse. He broke out on his own to become a retailer, then a wholesaler and finally a distributor.In 1982, disaster struck. There was a coup in Kenya and in the turmoil, the company’s war...
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