Tata Chemicals ordered out of Kenya by president
Kenya's President William Ruto orders India's Tata Chemicals to quit, saying it has failed to benefit the country.
**Tata Chemicals told to leave Kenya by president**
One of India’s leading chemical firms, Tata Chemicals, has been told to leave Kenya after the government said it had not delivered enough benefits to the country.
President William Ruto said the company should “pack up and leave”, arguing that it had been exporting soda ash rather than processing the mineral locally into glass and chemicals.
Ruto said the government had already identified new investors to take over the company’s operations, with the goal of creating more jobs and investment for Kenyans.
Tata Chemicals said it respected the government’s decision and remained “committed to constructive engagement through the appropriate legal and regulatory channels to resolve the outstanding matters”.
The president made the remarks during a visit to Kajiado county, where Tata Chemicals Magadi’s plant is located.
The company, part of India’s Tata Group, operates at Lake Magadi, about 120km (75 miles) southwest of Nairobi. It exports more than 350,000 tonnes of soda ash each year to markets including India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other parts of Africa.
Ruto said the government would bring in two new companies to replace Tata Chemicals in running the operations.
Kenya is the world’s fourth-largest producer of natural soda ash - the common name for sodium carbonate - and accounts for 1% of global output, according to the US Geological Survey.
It is mainly produced from natural brines or the mineral trona, and is used in glass, chemicals, batteries and other industrial products.
Tata Chemicals is also one of Kenya’s biggest mineral exporters and Africa’s largest soda ash producer.
The company extracts trona from Lake Magadi and turns it into soda ash, a major ingredient in glassmaking and also used in detergents, chemicals, water treatment, textiles and paper, according to its website.
Its 2024 accounts showed about 245,000 tonnes of soda-ash sales and turnover of $78.7m.
The company employs about 500 people and says its community programmes support roughly 30,000 people around Magadi through water, healthcare, education, infrastructure and other assistance.
But Ruto said the company was not contributing enough to Kenya and accused it of exporting the country’s resources.
“Tata Chemicals Magadi has had a contract for 100 years, and they have done nothing. I told them the other day to pack up and leave,” he said in Swahili.
“They have not built anything in Kajiado, they have not built any factory in Kajiado.”
More than 95% of Magadi’s output has historically been exported.
In a statement, Tata Chemicals said that since it acquired the Magadi plant in 2005, “it has played an important role in the Kenyan economy and continues to be an integral part of our business”.
Ruto’s remarks came five weeks after Kenya’s mining minister ordered Tata Chemicals Magadi to suspend operations, reportedly over its failure to make royalty payments and meet other regulatory requirements.
The company said it had “provided a comprehensive response to the matters raised by the ministry, including information regarding its compliance with applicable regulatory requirements”.
It said it was now waiting for a review of its submissions and further guidance.
The factory’s history at Lake Magadi goes back to 1911, and a major mining lease was signed with the Kenyan government in 1928.
Tata Chemicals took over the operation in 2005 when it acquired UK-based Brunner Mond Group.