Global Companies Which Have Exited the Kenyan Market

As the corporate world continues to come to terms with the tough economic times being faced globally, several companies announced plans to exit the Kenyan market. 

The exit of these companies affected many Kenyans and foreigners who were employed by the various organisations.

Here are the companies that announced their exit from the Kenyans market in 2024 and what we know about the move.

Bayer

Bayer is a German pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. In January 2024, the company announced plans to leave the direct drug distribution in Kenya and contract a third party to distribute its pharmaceutical products.

As explained by the company, the move was aimed at enhancing its operations.

At the time, the company had over 200 employees in Kenya and other African countries. However, it was not indicated how many employees in Kenya would be affected by the move.

"We are calling this initiative 'Smart Serve', as it is intended to help reach and serve more people in Africa in a more sustainable manner. We shall be leveraging the expertise and networks of a third-party distributor to ensure sustained availability and access of our products and solutions," Jorge Levinson, Cluster Lead for the Pharmaceuticals Division in South East and West Central Africa, stated.

"Through this approach, we strongly believe that Bayer will be better positioned to accelerate access to our health solutions, especially in the family planning, cardiovascular, ophthalmology, self-care as well as OTC [over the counter] therapeutic areas."

Base Titanium

Base Titanium is an Australian company that ventures into mining and has operations based in Kwale County.

As detailed in 2023, the company announced plans to close down its operations in Kwale in 2024.

"We have explored all avenues for further extending the life of Kwale Operations. However, despite these efforts and broad support from the local community, we have been unsuccessful in identifying additional mineral deposits of sufficient grade or scale to support a further extension," Managing Director of Base Resources, Tim Carstens stated then.

"The Company’s focus at Kwale now necessarily turns to detailed closure planning and transition to post-mining land use whilst ensuring we continue to safely extract maximum value from the remaining ore reserves."

Betsafe

In May 2024, Betsafe, a betting company announced that it was exiting the Kenyan market.

The company announced that the decision to leave the market was occasioned by taxation policies that had made it difficult to operate in the country.

"It's true that Betsafe Kenya will cease its operations in the country effective May 14, 2024," Betsafe CEO Victor Sudi told Business Baily in May.