Ruaraka is an industrial and residential suburb in the city of

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. Located within the larger sub-county of

Kasarani Kasarani is a mixed-use neighbourhood in northeast Nairobi. Kasarani is also used in reference to the city's second most populated sub-county with the same name, encompasing various neighbourhoods in the northeastern areas of Nairobi. Located ...

, it is approximately northeast of Nairobi's

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

off Thika Road.

Location

Ruaraka is located approximately northeast of Nairobi's

, within the sub-county of

. It is straddled by the Outer Ring, Baba Dogo and the

Thika Thika () is an industrial town and commerce hub in Kiambu County, Kenya, lying on the A2 road , northeast of Nairobi, near the confluence of the Thika and Chania Rivers. Although Thika town is administratively in Kiambu County, the greater ...

roads.

Overview

Ruaraka came to being in 1922 when two Welsh brothers Charles and George Hurst, and a friend H. A. Dowding, gained interest in an inhabited area along a river known as ''Rui-Rwa-Aka'', that reserved for the

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: *Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya * Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cen ...

girls during circumcision. Along the banks of the river, the brothers picked an expansive land to set up the very first

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

British Kenya British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

known as Kenya Breweries. The brewery fate later became uncertain when one of the proprietors was George Hurst was killed by an elephant. To honour his memory, his brother named the new beer Tusker. In 1938, Taylor and Company, owned by entrepreneur William Taylor, was established in the area. Later in 1951, Ind Coope and Allsopp (East Africa) Limited bought a

controlling interest A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the maj ...

that brought forth the launching the

Pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery. History ...

and Allsopps beer brands in the Kenyan market. Kenya Breweries would later buy Allsopps and Pilsner to form the East African Breweries Limited (EABL). In 1960, a Danish businessman, Baron U. Akerhielm, established another factory to supply EABL with brewery tanks. Over the years Ruaraka area has seen significant growth in establishment of other industrial plants, making it a major industrial hub in

. Allsops, Baba Dogo and the Tusker Village, neighbourhoods form part of the Ruaraka.

Points of interest

# East African Breweries Limited (EABL), in Ruaraka. # Pepsi Cola (EA) Limited, in Ruaraka. # General Service Unit (GSU) headquarters, along Thika Road.

References

{{Nairobi, state=collapsed Suburbs of Nairobi