Bamburi Cement Ltd. was founded in 1951 by Felix Mandl - a director of Cementia Holding A.G. Zurich. Cementia later went into partnership with Blue Circle PLC (UK). In 1989, Lafarge, the world’s largest building materials group, acquired Cementia, and thus became an equal shareholder with Blue Circle. Lafarge bought Blue Circle in 2001 to become the largest building materials company in the world and Bamburi Cement Limited principle shareholder.
It's first plant Mombasa started production in 1954 with annual capacity of 140,000 tonnes of cement. Today the Mombasa based plant has the capacity to produce of 1 ,1 million tonnes.

In 1998, a new one million tonne per annum clinker grinding plant was added just outside Nairobi, increasing the total production capacity to 2.1 million tonnes. With the new plant, Bamburi Cement has been able to improve it's service to Nairobi and upcountry markets, through speedier and more efficient packing turn around time, The rail sliding at the Nairobi plant has also facilitated sales to Western Kenya and Uganda.

Bamburi Cement is the largest cement manufacturing company in the region and it's Mombasa plant is the second largest cement plant in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also one of the largest manufacturing export earners in Kenya, exporting 28 per cent of its production in 1998 (29 per cent) Export markets include Reunion, Uganda and Mayotle. In the past, they have also included Mauritius, Sri Lanka, The Comoros, Madagascar, Seychelles and the Congo.

Some facts about Bamburi Cement :

• One of the largest cement producers in sub-Saharan Africa
• Largest manufacturing export earner in Kenya
• Largest industry at the Kenya coast
• World famous quarry rehabilitation, Haller Park
• One of the largest export earners in Kenya
• One of the biggest electricity consumers in
  Kenya