The Making of a Nation Builder by Ken Mbae

Two headlines, seven years apart. The first, on July 5, 2018, “Centum breaks ground for KES 100Bn Industrial Park” featured on The Standard, announced a bold vision. The second, on September 18, 2025, “KCB, Afreximbank in KES 103Bn Centum’s Industrial Park Financing” featured on the Business Daily, announced the moment when that vision was financed into reality. These headlines form the heart of the story, “The Making of a Nation Builder”, and capture a journey that transformed a once remote sisal plantation into one of the fastest-growing investment hubs in East Africa.

Seven years ago on Monday, May 28, 2018, the Centum Real Estate Board approved the establishment of a business in Vipingo, Kilifi County. I was then sent by my boss to Vipingo to set up operations, attract investors, make sales and begin building a city.

“The task was extremely simple yet also impossible” recalls Ken Mbae, “I was required to assemble a team that would relocate to Vipingo, commence implementation and generate sales agreements that will fund development of a city on that sisal plantation.”

To get publicity, we crafted a bold vision, based on calculations at the back of an envelop that imagined selling 10,000 acres at an average price of KES 10 million each to establish a billion-dollar company (KES 100 billion based on the prevailing exchange rate). We then crafted that dramatic headline on July 5, 2018, our goal was to market and sell Vipingo, while trusting that in one way or another, the world would eventually come together to support us in realizing what seemed like a fantasy.

Fast-forward to 2025, that vision came to life, when His Excellency Dr. William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, along with Prof. Benedict O. Oramah, President and Chairman of Afreximbank; Gagan Gupta, Founder and CEO of Arise; ambassadors, CEOs, industrialists, investors, and dignitaries stood on the same ground where we once struggled to get a single visitor for the groundbreaking of the Vipingo SEZ.

“Seven years ago, an invitation to visit our ‘far-flung Vipingo’ would have been impossible, today, the world has come to us to witness the groundbreaking of the Vipingo Special Economic Zone,” says Ken Mbae.

This pivotal moment, attended by high-profile dignitaries, signalled Vipingo’s transformation and marked the convergence of our vision. At the event, KCB Bank and Afreximbank signed an MoU committing KES 103 billion in financing for enterprises setting up at the SEZ, and pledged to develop over 30,000 jobs in the coming years.

“As I sat listening to the speeches, all spoken in the language of possibility, I reflected on Vipingo’s journey and our contribution to our investors, shareholders, and our country Kenya, as well as Africa as a whole” Ken mentions, “this industrial park will revolutionize Kenya’s manufacturing story, attract billions of dollars in FDI, create thousands of jobs, and generate billions in taxes.”

Vipingo has now taken shape, and investors who once visited merely as observers have now returned with investment capital. This growth has unlocked vast opportunities in housing, healthcare, offices, schools, hospitals, sports infrastructure, and retail as well as the promise of creating thousands of direct jobs annually.

Back in 2018, there were no dignitaries or cheering crowds, but three ambitious, driven young people with an ownership mentality and a bias for action. We were rewarded when we delivered, motivated to do our best, and had everything to gain in terms of building a career. So, we started where all nation-building begins by constructing homes and workplaces with reliable access to water and power.

Since then, we have handed over 550+ homes to families and established neighbourhoods that glow at sunset. We have also attracted, sold, and supported the establishment of three major industries including the first private LPG mooring terminal and storage facility on the Kenyan coast, with a capacity of 10,000 metric tons; a 6,000-tonne modern cashew factory capable of processing Kenya’s entire crop; and the only large-scale privately desalination plant south of the pyramids, producing 3 million liters of fresh water every day. Alongside these, we built a mall and countless pieces of connective infrastructure such as roads, water pipelines, electricity, and more, that now support the city’s growth.

Bit by bit, Vipingo was no longer “out of reach.” It became one of the fastest-growing neighbourhoods in the region. And as the city grew, so did the people. Colleagues who started as analysts and associates, including myself, are today GMs, directors, or CEOs. Together, we are building businesses, creating wealth, and giving back to society.

Some of the things that I have learned along the way are:

Talent speeds up. By creating room for hungry, young ones to test, fail, and test some more, they will surpass your initial imagination of them and of you.
Pronouncements are anchors. Saying “we will build a billion-dollar city” gave our team a point on the horizon to target.
Execution (getting things done) truly matters. We won customers’ hearts by getting things done and keeping promises.

If you are reading this and have been tasked with a daunting mandate, perhaps to transform a remote parcel into an aspirational destination or to pursue goals that seem impossible, let this be your motivation. There is no limit to what a small, persistent group can achieve when given the chance, the challenge, and the promise of reward. Just begin, and the headlines will follow.

We now have proof of concept: a living, breathing city that has drawn international capital, captured national attention, and earned the confidence of banks ready to finance thousands of enterprises. Yet the challenge ahead is greater. We must distil what we have learned into a roadmap of what it takes to become true nation builders of enterprises, talent, and prosperity.

This is the blueprint I carry forward:

Imagine, build and beckon the world when the moment is appropriate, things will catch up and they will arrive with you to celebrate.
Talent: develop people faster than assets. Build academies, apprenticeships, and leadership rungs so the future CEOs are already on the shop floor today.
Enterprises / Firms: Keep building platforms on which Kenyan industries can grow, zones that de-risk to enter, lower time to market, and link to ports, rails, airports, power, water, and fiber by design

We can do it. We have done it once. We will do it again—bigger, better, broader—until the title “Nation Builder” is not a slogan, but a track record I can proudly display.