The Balaji Group textile company has received Sh3.2 billion from two investors to boost their production.
The two investors, Norwegian Investment Fund (Norfund) and Ethos Mezzanine Partners 3, each contributed 12.5 million dollars.
Part of the fund will be used to replace older washing machines with modern ones, increasing their manufacturing by 300 percent.
Further investments will be made in sewing machines, helping expand production.
Balaji Group, which currently has over 120,000 employees, is set to create 6,000 new direct and 6,000 indirect jobs with the investment.
“We believe that by contributing to the growth and development of the textile and apparel sector in Kenya, we can make a significant impact by delivering on our mandate of facilitating job creation at scale in order to combat poverty,” Norfund East Africa Regional Director William Nyaoke said.
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Kenya’s textile industry is a little underdeveloped, with about 50,000 workers, a majority of whom are women.
“We are excited to partner with the Balaji Group and Norfund to fund the next phase in its growth trajectory that spans 21-years since it was founded by Pankaj and Amit Bedi,” Ethos Managing Partne Phillip Myburgh said.
“This funding commitment also promotes the UN’s Sustainable Developments Goals 5 (gender equality), 6 (clean water & sanitation), 8 (decent work & economic growth) and 12 (responsible consumption and production),” he added.
Balaji has put in place a 1.8MW captive solar plant to advance green ambition.
“Our story is one of resilience and commitment to our vision to create a legacy institution in the sector. We are grateful for the opportunity to have worked with Norfund and Ethos Mezzanine Partners, whose core values are development and improving people’s lives, which is directly aligned with what Balaji’s endeavour is too,” says Pankaj Bedi, chairman of the Balaji Group.