Kenya tells Tata Chemicals to leave

Kenyan President William Ruto has asked Tata Chemicals to leave the country after raising concerns over the company’s long-running mining operations and its failure to add enough value to locally extracted resources.

Speaking during a visit to Magadi in southern Kenya, Ruto said Tata Chemicals had held mining rights for about 100 years but had not built sufficient processing facilities in Kajiado. He accused the company of taking soda ash extracted in Kenya to India and other countries instead of processing more of the resource locally.

“Pack and go,” Ruto said, adding that Kenya would seek new investors to develop the industry. According to Bloomberg, the government wants one new company to establish a large glass-processing facility and another to manufacture chemicals in Kajiado.

Kenya’s concerns centre on its soda-ash industry, which is based around Lake Magadi in Kajiado County. Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, is an important industrial material used in products including glass, detergents and batteries.

The Kenyan government has also raised concerns about alleged unpaid royalties and other regulatory obligations. Mining authorities previously ordered Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd. to suspend operations, saying the company needed to provide documents demonstrating compliance with statutory requirements and settle outstanding liabilities.

Other issues raised by the government include alleged shortcomings in value-addition programmes, skills transfer, employment of Kenyan citizens, export reporting, local procurement and environmental compliance.

Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku has also called for companies extracting the country’s natural resources to establish processing plants locally. He said future investors should create factories that can convert soda ash into finished products such as glass and chemicals.

Tata Chemicals has rejected suggestions that its Kenyan operations are failing to comply with regulations. The company said it is fully compliant with applicable requirements and remains committed to working with Kenyan authorities.

The company said its Kenyan subsidiary had submitted a comprehensive response to the issues raised by the Ministry and was waiting for the government to review its submissions. Tata Chemicals added that it would continue engaging with authorities through legal and regulatory channels to resolve the outstanding matters.

The dispute has also affected Tata Chemicals’ shares. The stock fell 2.7% to ₹624.85 on the BSE on Friday following the latest developments. The shares have already faced pressure over recent months.

Kenya has been producing natural soda ash since 1911, while Tata Chemicals acquired the Magadi operation in 2005. Kenya is currently the world’s fourth-largest producer of natural soda ash, accounting for roughly 1% of global production, according to the US Geological Survey.

The dispute now puts Tata Chemicals’ century-long association with Kenya’s soda-ash industry under fresh scrutiny as Nairobi pushes for greater local processing and economic benefits from its natural resources.