A success story of a majority of Kenyan billionaires is often dotted with a turning point including a lucrative government tender.
For Narendra Raval, the chairman of Devki Group of companies, however, keeping a clean slate for continuously working hard without government involvement is important for his company.
During a past interview with Victoria Rubadiri on Citizen TV, the humble tycoon revealed that he has never done any business with the government.
He further explained that the secret to his success was mingling with his workers without setting boundaries to insinuate that he is the boss in the group.
"My company does not do business with the government... I eat at the ‘kiosk’ with my workers. That gives me joy. When I interact with my workers, I get to know more about them, their families and why they are motivated to work hard," he narrated.
Raval appeared on the station in 2018 in an attempt to market his then book whose profit he revealed would be shared out with the needy.
Prior to its publication, he declined an advance payment of Ksh100 million for the rights of the paperback since he wanted to maximize its profits so that he could help as many needy people as possible.
Raval, who admits that he never thought he would grow so rich that he would be regarded as a billionaire, arrived in Kenya as a priest assistant.
"I am a Brahmin- a class in Hinduism specializing as priests. At no point in my life did I think I would be rich. I came to Kenya from India as a priest’s assistant," he continued.
In April, shortly after getting appointed as the new chancellor of Egerton University by President Uhuru Kenyatta, he revealed that he would channel his entire salary towards helping needy students at the institution.
He was in 2015 featured on Forbes Africa's Richest list.
