Del Monte Celebrates 60 Years in Kenya

Del Monte Kenya exports over $80 million worth of products annually, one of the most important sources of foreign exchange in the agricultural sector. Since 2004, it has contributed Kshs 100 billion, equivalent to 0.16% of GDP, while purchasing Kshs 850 million from SMEs annually. It also supports three Saccos with assets of Kshs 2.53 billion and manages Kshs 2.75 billion in pension assets for its permanent staff and casual workers.

These are some of the findings in a new publication on Del Monte Kenya’s 60-Year Impact Report done by Lotus Consulting. While most of the writing covers the last two decades of available data (2004-2024), it also goes into its history of sustainable agribusiness practices and impacts as the company navigated through changes in export markets, ownership, governments, and community needs, human rights challenges, and land uses.

The California Packing Corporation (known as Calpak) took over Kenya Canners, whose plant could process 15,000 tons per year but which by 1963 had ceased pineapple exports. This was the first major investment by an American corporation in Kenya's agriculture sector and the agreement was signed by Finance Minister James Gichuru, Planning & Development Minister Tom Mboya and the Agriculture Minister, Bruce McKenzie, for the Government of Kenya.

Calpak undertook to furnish Kenya Canners with financial, technical research and marketing assistance to expand from 20,000 tons of pineapple per annum to 35,000 tons within 3 years from 1965, offer export outlets under Del Monte trademarks to a worldwide market and to train other Kenyan farmers (outgrowers) to grow pineapple. The Kenya Government undertook to purchase 20,000 acres of arable agricultural land and to lease it to Calpak for 49 years from 1965, renewable for another 49 years. Soon after Calpak became Del Monte Corporation to reflect the prominence of its leading brand.

In 1968, Del Monte exercised an option in the original agreement and bought a majority shareholding in Kenya Canners. It then embarked on a major pineapple expansion program comprising the construction of a new factory complex along with acquisition of more suitable pineapple-growing land, and Kenya Canners became Del Monte's second largest exporter of canned pineapple.

Meanwhile, its parent Del Monte was purchased by tobacco manufacturer R. J. Reynolds Industries in 1979, which later, after another deal, became RJR Nabisco. Its two main food firms were Nabisco Biscuits and Del Monte, which together accounted for 60% of its sales, but its management felt that the tobacco business weighed down its share price, which would have been buoyed by its food brands.

After Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) acquired RJR Nabisco in a 1989 leveraged buyout (LBO), the food companies were sold for $5 billion to pay down the debt. Del Monte was split into three divisions that were sold separately. Over the next decade, ownership of the international operations, which included Del Monte in Kenya, was traded between the UK (Polly Peck, 1989), South Africa (Royal Foods, 1992), and Italy (Cirio, 2002). Elsewhere, Fresh Del Monte was acquired in 1996 by the IAT Group. In 2004, Fresh Del Monte bought the Del Monte Foods units of Cirio for $340 million after the latter was declared insolvent. These include operations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Then in 2026, Fresh Del Monte acquired the assets of the Del Monte Corporation from bankruptcy court, reuniting the legendary food label under a single group for the first time in four decades. With that, Fresh Del Monte has moved to rename itself the Del Monte Corporation and change its NYSE-ticker listing from "FDP" to "DEL".

What do the next few decades look like for Del Monte Kenya, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fresh Del Monte Produce, and which was hailed by President William Ruto in 2023 as the largest private sector employer in Kenya? 

While it runs one of the world's biggest commercial plantations, able to produce 200,000 tons of fresh pineapple every year, it will be one of its diversified products. Alongside pineapple, which is sold as juices and exported as fresh, canned, or frozen, it has started growing mangoes and avocados to develop high-quality products for local markets and for export. Also, canned beverages and energy drinks will be added as consumer tastes are changing. They will revive an outgrower model in a modern scheme to source from independent farmers, unlike the one that did not work in past decades (1948-1965), but now with new knowledge. And of course, the future includes adding on drones and AI to improve production efficiencies.

Ecobank Group’s 2025 in Review

As it celebrated its 40th year since incorporation, Ecobank, the banking group with the largest financial footprint in Africa, with a presence in 34 countries, recorded an increase in deposits of 24% to $25.3 billion, while net loans to customers went up by 19% to $11.8 billion. It ended 2025 with assets of $34.5 billion, up 23%, and a profit before tax of $801 million, a 21% increase from $657 million the previous year.

Revenue was up 17% to $2.45 billion, and the growth was well balanced: Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, which was the best performing region, accounted for 26% of assets and 37% of profits, while Anglophone West Africa did 23% and 28%, and Francophone West Africa had 37% and 35% of the same. Nigeria, which accounts for 10% of group assets, was the only region that did not record a profit, mainly due to a fourfold increase in provisions to settle legacy bad debts, as management sought to finally address asset quality and capital issues there.  

Continued implementation of Ecobank's Growth, Transformation and Returns (GTR) strategy, through technology platform investments and partnerships, led to a cost-to-income ratio of 48.3% in 2025, compared to 52.8% the previous year, as revenue went up by 17% compared to a 6% increase in costs. Revenue was more balanced, with 52% from the Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) side and 48% from the Consumer & Commercial Banking business. CIB achieved revenues of more than $1 billion for the first time, and Ecobank's trade finance loan book increased to $2.3 billion, as it supported more African businesses to grow their trade across borders. 

Ecobank processed digital transactions worth $133 billion, a 30% increase. Payment revenue went up to $305 million, representing 12% of group revenue. This was led by fund disbursements of $145 million, while customer usage of the 8.6 million cards issued resulted in card-related income of $101 million.

To address a gender financing gap on the continent, Ellevate by Ecobank provides support to women-led businesses, and in 2025, it lent over $515 million to women, increasing its portfolio by 194%. The Ellevate program will also benefit from a risk-sharing partnership with the Africa Guarantee Fund to extend financing coverage of 50% to women-owned and SME enterprises in 27 countries.  

Finally, the board of Ecobank has decided to resume a dividend and have the 600,000+ shareholders share a $40 million payment. The shares trade on three African stock exchanges of Abidjan, Accra, and Lagos. The Board has balanced dividends against the need to maintain reserves against exchange rate fluctuations across its markets. The Group's capital adequacy ratio (CAR) rose to 16.7% in 2025, from 15.8% in 2024.

With its strong revenue growth, leaner costs and capital priorities balanced, the Ecobank Group enters its fifth decade as an institution well positioned to deepen financial inclusion and support trade across the African continent.

The Base Titanium Legacy in Kenya

A flagship mining project ends as interest in the sector takes off.

After twelve years of operations, Base Titanium’s Kwale Mineral Sands operation has quietly closed, marking the end of Kenya’s largest mining project to date. What began in 2013 and later became a Kenya Vision 2030 mining flagship, concluded in February 2025 with a final bulk shipment, leaving behind important lessons about responsible mining, community relations, and the challenges of developing Kenya’s mineral sector.

Base Resources invested Kshs 26 billion in the project, with 9 billion spent on local procurement. Over twelve years, they extracted 5.2 million tons of minerals while paying approximately Kshs 11 billion in royalties, substantial revenue for a sector Kenya is still learning to develop. Between 2019 and 2022, Base Titanium accounted for 85% of Kenya’s mineral sector revenue, contributing 28.2 billion shillings of the total 35.2 billion in 2022. This dominance highlighted both the operation’s success and the underdevelopment of Kenya’s broader mining sector.

The company maintained unusual transparency, publishing detailed payment tallies on its website of payments to the Kenyan government, including value-added tax, utilities, and royalties. The company documented not only what it paid to the government but also the expected allocations to be advanced to the county government and local communities, maintaining transparency even as lawsuits emerged regarding the distribution of these funds. This openness set a standard other extractive companies should follow.

The challenges it faced over the decade included disputes over royalty rates that took years to resolve, dozens of court cases that overlapped, delayed VAT refunds, and a three-year exploration moratorium from November 2019 that prevented finding new deposits, even in adjacent counties, to extend operations. Also, major value-addition side investments did not sprout from the project.

With its exit, it leaves behind infrastructure and the company has handed over the 8.4 million cubic meter Mukurumudzi Dam to serve Kwale and the Coast area, power substations and a 16-kilometre transmission line, an 8-kilometre tarmac road, and buildings that can now be used as training centres. It built a ship-loading facility at the Likoni dock on land leased from Kenya Ferry Services, which is now part of the Kenya Ports Authority. The company had development agreements with Likoni, Msambweni, and Mrima Bwiti communities and funded projects in livelihoods, agriculture, education, and health. The company employed local workers and used local suppliers to send 50 trucks daily between the factory in Msambweni and the Likoni dock.

The rehabilitation work is ongoing to transform 2,500 hectares of brown dunes back to green vegetation, by pouring back topsoil, tree planting, grass cover, and compacting. It is hoped to restore the land to be fit for agricultural or forest or other uses. Interestingly, eucalyptus trees, normally dreaded in Kenya for their groundwater-absorbing ability, have been deliberately replanted in parts of the site precisely for that purpose - to help absorb water and stabilize the reclaimed land. A Post-Mining Land Use Committee with government, county, NEMA, and community representatives ensures accountability in the restoration process. While the land needs years to be fully usable, this careful rehabilitation sets a precedent for future mining operations.

Base Titanium proved that mining companies can operate profitably in Kenya while respecting communities and environmental standards. The operation wasn’t perfect; royalty rates could have been higher, and communities are still saying they have not received royalties or are seeking compensation for the use of their land that the government leased to the company.

But compared to other extractive operations, its payments transparency, infrastructure contributions, and environmental restoration represent genuine progress. As Kenya develops its mineral sector, this operation provides a foundation to build on that future mining ventures can learn from, not just lessons about what to avoid. The lessons include leasing rather than buying land, engaging local communities, and employing local people rather than relying primarily on expatriate managers.

Also, when capital-intensive mining ventures are approached with promises of billions or trillions without realistic planning and genuine partnership, they are doomed to fail. This approach proved particularly important in remote areas where development has been limited and where NGOs sometimes politicize projects, creating obstacles for investors.

In January 2025, American firm Energy Fuels bought Base Resources for Kshs 31.8 billion, closing the chapter on Kenya’s largest mining project. They hope to recreate the Base investment experience in Madagascar, where they plan to mine heavy mineral sands in a project called Vara Mada for 38 years.

The Kenya government still needs the Base story to attract new investors, and it features members of the Energy team on summit panels that target international mining and investments.

In March 2026, Kenya invited mining firms with the necessary financing and experience to tender and undertake the exploration of copper in Tharaka Nithi, manganese in Tana River, coltan in Embu, chromite in Samburu, and niobium and other rare earths in Kwale. On to a new chapter of mining.

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Interswitch in Kenya

Interswitch is a Nigeria-based, transaction switching and electronic payments processing company, with operations in several African countries. The company, founded in 2002, provides payment solutions for individuals and organizations, mainly around financial services to several private sector companies, as well as in the public sector (government revenue, health care etc.) 

Interswitch was majority acquired by Helios Investment Partners for $96 million in 2011. Helios are best known in Kenya for their large investments in Equity Bank, Wananchi Online, and soon, at  Telkom Kenya, where they are in the process of buying out France's Orange Telecom.

Interswitch itself entered Kenya by buying 85% of Paynet Holdings in 2014, which was best known for it's Pesa Point network of ATM's, which was launched in 2005,  and which grew to serve customers of over 100 institutions including several of the large and mid-size banks. At the time of the  Interswitch purchase in 2014, Paynet Services had 2013 revenue of Kshs. 320 million (~$3.7 million) and powered of 1,200 ATM's and 1,300 bank agent locations in Kenya. 

Interswitch also owns Verve International which is the largest card brand in Nigeria with almost 30 million customers. Interswitch launched the Verve card brand in Kenya last month, in a partnership with KCB, East Africa's largest bank.