A Century of Extraction: Tata, Magadi and Kenya’s Ongoing Economic Decolonization

On September 3, 2026, Kenyan President William Ruto made a momentous announcement that symbolized the end of an era of colonial legacy in the industrial sector of this African country.

A Century-Old Trona Extractor Shown the Door

Are We Slaves to Other People?

As President Ruto lamented Tata Chemicals’ failure to build industries and social infrastructure on September 3, he proceeded to ask, “Are we slaves to other people?” — a question that is hard to dismiss for many reasons. For instance, the company has almost exclusively benefited from the land and mineral concessions it gained from the colonial government for a century. The company has mined Trona, processed it into Soda Ash, and sold it abroad while the neighboring communities have remained in abject poverty. Meanwhile, it has engineered dependency among the surrounding African community. While it claims to be providing water, healthcare, and education to the community, the said water is largely accessed only as long as it continues operating. Some local community members were already unable to access water a few days after its operations were shut, meaning that it had never thought of connecting residents to water supplies for the entire century of its operation. Similarly, while claiming to provide 75%-subsidized healthcare to residents, it also reported that residents were........

© New Eastern Outlook