Davis & Shirtliff: Powering East Africa’s Water and Energy Future

Built on family ownership and professional succession, Davis & Shirtliff has evolved into a region-shaping force in water and solar innovation, balancing commercial growth with social impact to deliver sustainable infrastructure where reliable water and energy remain transformative.

Since its establishment in 1946 as a small engineering company in post-war Kenya, Davis and Shirtliff has grown into one of Africa’s most influential distributors of pumps, solar power systems and water solutions. Today the business operates a network of around 120 branches across 11 countries, employs over 1,000 people, and delivers life-changing infrastructure to rural and urban communities alike. 

Rooted in History, Reinvented for a New Era 

The company’s history is deeply personal. “My father founded it in 1946,” Chairman Alec Davis explains. “I joined in 1976, and I’ve now worked here for nearly 50 years.” After his father passed away in 1982, Davis worked alongside his father’s business partner for several years, eventually buying him out in 1990. That moment marked a turning point. The early 1990s brought sweeping economic change across East Africa. “In 1993 the government liberalised foreign exchange,” he says. “It opened whole the whole economy and created a whole new set of opportunities.” With control of the business and a rapidly shifting market landscape, Davis began a major transformation: expanding regionally, modernising operations and broadening the product range. 

By the late 1990s and early 2000s, Davis & Shirtliff had begun its remarkable expansion across East Africa. Today, half of its branches are in Kenya, with major operations in Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia, each now significant national businesses in their own right. 

The Rise of Dayliff 

One of the most pivotal decisions Davis made was to develop an in-house brand: Dayliff. This move changed the company from being a distributor of proprietary products to becoming a trusted market leader with its own identity and product standards. “We work a lot with stockists,” Davis says. “And establishing our own brand has really opened the market to us.” Dayliff quickly became synonymous with quality, reliability and local expertise. Its prominence has helped the company expand rapidly across a region where brand recognition and trust are essential. 

Leadership Through Structure, Strength and Succession 

Davis describes himself as a “fairly strong personality,” and his natural ability to command a room is clear. What this really reveals is a leader who combines authority with a steady sense of direction; someone who is comfortable making decisions, taking responsibility and setting high standards. Under his leadership, Davis & Shirtliff has evolved from an entrepreneurial family business into a fully corporatised organisation with decentralised management and strong reporting lines. This shift speaks not only to his confidence but also to his strategic maturity: he built a system strong enough to function beyond him, ensuring longevity, resilience and regional scale. 

Davis stepped back from his executive role ten years ago, handing over leadership to Kenyan professionals. “I had one chief executive who retired a couple of years ago,” he says, “and now we have another very intelligent and capable leader, George Mbugwa.” 

The company also integrates family continuity in a structured, modern way. “Both of my sons are in the business,” he explains; one as Managing Director of Kenya, the other leading the supply chain. It’s a blend of family heritage and professional management that gives the organisation unusual stability and cultural continuity across borders. 

Innovation in an Industry That Powers the World 

Water pumps may not sound glamorous, but Davis is quick to point out their global importance. “The pump is the world’s oldest, and most common machine,” he says. “Pumps use about 15% of global energy.” For obvious reasons, efficiency and sustainability are now major priorities for the company, and the pump industry as a whole. By integrating advanced electronic controls and increasingly turning to solar-powered systems, Davis & Shirtliff is reducing energy consumption while expanding access to clean water in regions where electricity is scarce or unreliable. “Solar power isn’t just a cost-saving measure,” he explains. “It’s a green solution that allows communities to thrive without adding to their environmental footprint.” 

In regions where electricity access is inconsistent or non-existent, solar-powered pumping has become nothing short of revolutionary. Davis notes that solar panel costs have dropped to around “10% of what they were ten years ago,” making solar not just an environmentally sound choice but the cheapest and most accessible option for many African communities. 

Solar is now on the verge of overtaking the pump business in scale and revenue; a profound rebalancing for a company whose origins lie firmly in water solutions. 

Transforming Communities: The “Improving Lives” Programme 

Water access is a fundamental human need. While people in the West turn on a tap without a second thought, “in the developing world, getting water is a real challenge,” Davis says. To address this, Davis & Shirtliff established its ‘Improving Lives’ initiative, a CSR-led programme that partners with corporates and NGOs to deliver solar-powered water solutions across the region. 

The company installs roughly 120 systems under this programme each year, many in rural schools, clinics and community centres. The impact is profound. In some areas, children begin their school day by walking to a river to collect water. The need for this disappears overnight once a solar pump is installed. 

Beyond technological innovation, the initiative helps communities avoid the high cost of grid electricity. With solar power, once the system is installed, the energy is free. This is a huge benefit in areas where electricity tariffs can be prohibitive. The company regularly documents these projects through its ‘Improving Lives’ publication, reflecting both pride in the programme and a desire to scale it further. 

People at the Heart of the Business 

With more than 1,000 employees across 11 culturally diverse countries, workforce development is critical. Fortunately, Davis & Shirtliff’s reputation precedes it. “We are a very prominent company in the industry,” Davis explains. “There’s a lot of unemployment in Kenya, and people invest heavily in education. As market leaders, people want to work with us.” The result is a continual stream of high-calibre applicants from across East Africa, enabling the company to build teams with deep local knowledge and strong technical skill. 

Retention, Davis adds, is reinforced by clear structures, professional opportunities, and a culture that values capability and long-term contribution.

A Business Built for Impact and Longevity 

What emerges most clearly in speaking with Alec Davis is his deep sense of responsibility; not only to his family legacy, but to the millions of lives that depend on reliable access to water and clean energy. While the company has grown into a multinational organisation, its purpose remains simple: provide the technology, infrastructure and support needed to deliver safe water and sustainable power to the people who need it most. 

From pioneering solar pumping systems to nurturing regional leadership and building community partnerships, Davis & Shirtliff stands today as a model of what locally rooted, long-term businesses can achieve. “We work in a fast-changing world,” Davis says. “The technologies change, the markets change. And we’ve changed with them.” Eighty years after its founding, the company continues to do exactly that: adapt, innovate and improve lives across a continent where access to water and energy still shapes futures.