Milly Glass SEZ to build Africa’s first dedicated pharmaceutical bottle factory in Mombasa

KENYA—Milly Glass SEZ Limited, a subsidiary of Milly Group of Companies, plans to establish what it says could become Africa’s first pharmaceutical bottle manufacturing plant at the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone in Mombasa.

The company has acquired 15 acres at the site, where it plans to build an 80-tonne glass factory primarily for manufacturing pharmaceutical bottles.

Milly Glass SEZ director Mohamed Rashid said the company expects to break ground by the end of August 2026 and begin producing amber pharmaceutical bottles by July 2027.

Rashid made the remarks during Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui’s visit to the site.

According to Rashid, Kenya, Tanzania and Egypt currently manufacture glass bottles mainly for the soft drink and beverage industries, while pharmaceutical bottles are largely imported from India and Pakistan.

“There is nobody doing pharmaceutical bottles right now. All the pharmaceutical bottles are coming from India and Pakistan, but mainly from India,” Rashid said.

He added that pharmaceutical manufacturers in Kenya face higher freight costs, longer delivery times and other logistical challenges because they rely on imported bottles.

Factory to serve regional pharmaceutical market

Rashid said the idea for the factory emerged about four years ago, after a pharmaceutical manufacturer approached the company to produce bottles locally.

However, securing suitable land delayed the project until the company acquired the Dongo Kundu site in November 2025.

The proposed plant will produce about 300,000 bottles for markets in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, as well as the wider Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) region.

Currently, at least 25 containers carrying pharmaceutical bottles worth about Sh16 million (US$124,000) enter Kenya every month.

Rashid, however, said the current supply remains insufficient because pharmaceutical packaging requirements extend across a wide range of products.

The facility will manufacture amber bottles, which help protect light-sensitive medicines by blocking harmful ultraviolet and visible light.

The company also plans to produce flint glass for other packaging applications.

Investment to create jobs

Milly Glass SEZ will equip the plant with European machinery sourced from Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

The facility is expected to create at least 300 direct jobs and another 200 indirect opportunities across areas such as packaging materials, raw materials, chemicals and transportation.

Rashid also expects the investment to create or support at least 100 small and micro enterprises.

The factory will be the second manufacturing facility established in Kenya by the Milly Group of Companies, which operates in juice processing and opened another plant in Malindi, Kilifi County, in June 2026.

Rashid said the company wants to increase its investments in Kenya and create employment opportunities for local communities.

However, he urged the government to improve road access to the factory site.

He said the absence of a suitable access road could increase transportation costs and complicate the movement of delicate construction materials and equipment.

Government pledges infrastructure support

Kinyanjui said the government would ensure that a proper access road is constructed within the next few weeks, noting that investments of this nature require public-sector support.

He said Kenya had deliberately structured its policies to attract investors and that the government’s role was to provide the incentives and infrastructure needed to facilitate private-sector investment.

Kinyanjui added that the Dongo Kundu area would develop into a major logistics hub serving both domestic and export markets.