Who we are

Bata’s operations in Kenya trace back to the early 1930s. In 1934, a group of Bata employees arrived from Europe to purchase hides for the company’s factory in Czechoslovakia, and by 1935, a trading company had been established in Mombasa to import shoes from Zlín for sale in the local market. By 1938, the company had hired a small soap factory in Mombasa and begun local production of rubber and canvas footwear. Bata had opened its first Kenyan retail stores in Mombasa and Nairobi by 1932, and in 1939 constructed its first Kenyan shoe manufacturing plant in Mombasa.  

In 1940, the company relocated to its current home in the highlands of Limuru, chosen for its expansion space, abundant water supply for the tannery, proximity to the Mombasa–Uganda railway, and closeness to Nairobi where it immediately began training a local workforce in mechanical footwear production. By 1942, the Limuru site had become the main factory and headquarters for British East Africa. In the 1970s, East African Bata Shoe Company Limited changed its name to Bata Shoe Company (Kenya) Limited. Since then, Bata Kenya has grown to become one of the largest footwear manufacturers and retailers in Eastern and Central Africa.  

Over the decades, the company expanded its retail footprint across towns and cities in Kenya and introduced iconic local brands such as Safari Boots, Toughees, Ngoma, and Pata Pata. Today, Bata Kenya operates over 140 stores nationwide, sells millions of pairs of shoes each year, and employs thousands of Kenyans. 

Bata’s core values