Unlike his sibling Winnie Odinga, the EALA MP who many perceive as former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s political heir, Raila Junior has preferred to stay on the sidelines when it comes to politics. While Winnie was pictured by her father’s side during anti-government protests in the streets, Raila Junior was in the boardrooms as he played key roles in managing the family’s vast business empire, particularly in the energy sector.
Raila Odinga in 2022 placed his net worth at around Ksh2 billion. Through interests in multiple companies such as East African Spectre Limited, BE Energy and Pan African Petroleum Company, Odinga was a player across various facets of the energy sector, including the manufacturing and revalidation of LPG cylinders, and importation and distribution of petroleum products.
Raila Junior is the holder of an accounting and finance degree from Bangor University and a Masters in Finance from Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom. He holds key positions in many of the Odinga companies.
He serves as the Financial Director at EA Spectre Limited, a position he has held since August 2022. The senior Odinga founded EA Spectre Limited while working at the University of Nairobi’s Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1971. According to the LPG cylinder manufacturing and revalidation company, it controls about 20% market share in new LPG cylinders manufacture and over 80% of the revalidation market share.
Raila Junior is also an an owner of Pan African Petroleum. Junior holds 25,000 shares in Pan African Petroleum, with other close family members also having significant stakes. The Odinga family owns its stake in Be Energy through the Pan African Petroleum Company.
BE Energy was established in 2004 with a vision “To be the leader in oil and gas supply for the region”. The Odinga family owns a 35% stake in the company with Saudi Arabia’s Bakri family being the majority shareholder.
According Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) data, Be Energy is the seventh largest oil retailer in Kenya, controlling 3.1 per cent of the fuel market in 2021 up from from 2.4 per cent in 2020. It also sells jet fuel to major airlines including Kenya Airways, KLM and Air France and has a fueling facility at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The company boasts storage facilities in Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu. It also exports petrol, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel and oil lubricants to countries including South Sudan, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Junior notably describes himself as a Sales Assistant at Bakri International Energy, involved in regional and local sales of petroleum products since January 2007.
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