Since opening its low voltage (LV) manufacturing facility in Kenya in July last year, electrical equipment and services supplier ACTOM has identified several growth opportunities in the region.
Kelvin Ageng’o Oriwo, General Manager of ACTOM Kenya, says although the factory has been focused on the LV space, it recently built its first medium voltage (MV) protection panel.
“We are the only manufacturer in East Africa that builds MV protection panels, and we expect this to be a key area of growth for us across the East Africa region, specifically in the Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian markets,” says Oriwo.
He adds that ACTOM Kenya has recently secured various “mission-critical” contracts, among them the supply of LV Panel BlokSets for customers in Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda.
“The orders from Kenya and Rwanda are for customers in the pharmaceuticals sector, which is a quality- and specification-sensitive space. The orders therefore recognise our strengths in terms of product quality and guarantees, as well as our capacity to service clients specifically concerned with assurance and quality,” Oriwo says.
“The Uganda contract is a sensitive project with a major brand client and reflects the growing trust that companies producing leading brands in the East Africa region are placing in ACTOM Kenya. This contract for the client in Uganda also complements our efforts to ramp up our regional output.”
Global trends
Oriwo says ACTOM’s decision to establish a manufacturing hub in Kenya was largely influenced by the global trend of multinational companies increasingly coming into East Africa, with their entry point most often being Kenya.
“Additionally, the technical capacity in Kenya is generally much higher than in many countries in the sub-Saharan region. This makes it easy for an original equipment manufacturer like ACTOM to establish itself in this country.”
Oriwo highlights too, “ACTOM has performed well in South Africa over many years, but if we compare South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the combined GDPs of Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, this East Africa region presents a bigger market than South Africa.”
To achieve its goal of becoming the company that powers Africa, it makes sense for the ACTOM group to extend its geographical diversification into East Africa.
Oriwo points out that the electricity uptake per capita in the East African region is generally lower than in South Africa, indicating that the region has a lot of growth potential in the energy space, and ACTOM recognises the opportunity this offers.
Fully localised
ACTOM Kenya’s manufacturing facility is now 100% localised and employs 66 people directly and a further six indirectly. Oriwo says this fosters a sense of pride and confidence within the local business community as people from the community operate and manage a large factory.
“Although ACTOM Kenya is currently a smaller representation of the ACTOM Group, which produces a wide range of electrical equipment, the company aims over time to bring the full spectrum of ACTOM’s products into the region, not only what we manufacture in Kenya,” Oriwo adds.
For more information visit: www.actom.co.za
