By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-09 23:31:13 | Updated at 2025-03-10 05:16:12
5 hours ago
Sitting in his lavish living room in Almaty, Kenges Rakishev – one of the wealthiest men in Kazakhstan – gets excited about electric vehicles (EVs), saying he drives a Zeekr and his father-in-law owns a Hongqi.
The two Chinese auto brands are just a small part of his automotive menagerie, but the chairman of the Fincraft Group – with businesses in oil and gas, metals mining and processing – plans to add more to his collection.
The 45-year-old just visited China in February, where he had the opportunity to check out Xiaomi’s newest EV.
The investor and entrepreneur has been branching out into the cleantech sector from a previous focus on oil and gas. This includes investing in critical minerals used for making EVs, batteries and solar panels. In 2019, his company set up a subsidiary called Kaznickel that produces nickel and cobalt in eastern Kazakhstan.
“The West is lagging behind China when it comes to the EV race,” he said in a video interview last week. “China started to secure supplies of lithium, cobalt and graphite decades ago, and they are racing ahead when it comes to the price and quality of their EVs.”
“We are a natural partner for China, especially in the growing EV sector.”
