How Vimal Shah makes a difference with manufacturing

The year was 1980. A 20-year-old Vimal Shah, now the CEO of Bidco, with his brother, were impressed that manufacturing consumer goods was feasible. They neither had the experience nor the capital, only will and passion.

“We went to several banks and shared our project idea but none of them was willing to finance it. The idea was often noted as a good one, but the banks could not trust us with their money,” Mr Shah said in an interview with Citizen TV.

Mr Shah did not have experience in that line of business, said the bankers. But he was induced to “start small and aim high.”

After jumping the hurdle of opening the business, the next was finding market for their products. The brothers went around the country in a van to market where they urged shopkeepers to stock their products and pay after selling. Thirty years later, Mr Shah is ranked as the richest Kenyan according to New World Wealth.

Hearts and minds

Last year, Forbes magazine listed him as one of the wealthiest Africans worth $1.6 billion. Bidco now has an annual turnover of more than $500 million.

The family owned company holds a 49 per cent share of the edible oils market in Kenya.

It manufactures edible oils, detergents, baking powder and canola. The products are distributed in 14 countries in Africa.

Wealthy as he is, one would assume Shah’s objective is to make more money and rise up any rankings where he does not enjoy the number one position.

“It is not important to gauge people based on wealth. I derive more satisfaction in living in the hearts and minds of people,” Mr Shah said on a Kenyan TV station.

“I believe in being ‘MAD’ (Make a Difference).”

Mr Shah was born in 1960 in Nyeri. He holds a degree in Business Administration and Finance from USIU-Africa. He won the East African Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2012 awarded by All Africa Business Leaders Awards (AABLA) in partnership with CNBC Africa and Forbes Africa.