Billionaire Amarjeet Patel is one of Kenya’s wealthiest women, sitting on an empire worth more than $40 million (Ksh5.4 billion).

Yet despite being listed by 2018 Knight Frank among the country’s top 23 women billionaires, she is a figure of quiet mystery, rarely seen in public or in the media.

Through her investment vehicle Aksaya Investment Holdings, Amarjeet owns nearly half of Carbacid Investments Plc (49.9 percent), Kenya’s leading supplier of food-grade carbon dioxide used by beverage companies. 

Aside from Carbacid, she holds $11.57 million worth of shares in Co-operative Bank of Kenya and enjoys sizeable stakes in Williamson Tea, Bamburi Cement, and Sanlam Kenya Plc, where she and her family control 20.7 percent.

Her investments stretch beyond the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Amarjeet is a co-owner of the five-star Sankara Hotel in Westlands, Nairobi, developed in partnership with the late former Cabinet Minister Charles Njonjo.

Additionally, the hotel has consistently received high global ratings for its luxury and service.

At the same time, she also owns Transworld Safaris Limited, a tour company she founded more than 30 years ago and continues to oversee as Managing Director.

However, Amarjeet’s journey to billionaire status cannot be told without mentioning her husband, Baloobhai Patel. 

At 87 years old, Baloobhai has built a fortune quietly and is often described as one of Kenya’s most reclusive tycoons.

For most Kenyans, his existence is captured in a single, old photo circulating online; that’s how private he is.

Baloobhai began consolidating his fortune by acquiring stakes in blue-chip companies on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

He is a significant shareholder in Co-operative Bank, Absa Bank Kenya, Bamburi Cement, Sanlam Kenya, and Williamson Tea.

He added 20.5 million shares in Co-operative Bank, lifting his stake to 1.29 percent, valued at $5.26 million (Ksh855.2 million).

He also holds shares in Absa Bank Kenya and is among the biggest individual investors in Bamburi Cement and Williamson Tea.

These investments, combined with Amarjeet’s, are managed under Aksaya Investment Holdings, where she was named a co-director in 2015. However, their son, Rohan Patel, has taken on a greater role in the company, especially in real estate, where the family owns several high-value properties in Nairobi.

The billionaire couple’s diversification strategy has also expanded into renewable energy, with reported stakes in a solar energy firm.

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