Bidco Africa Group, the East African consumer goods giant owned by the wealthy Bhimji Shah family, has completed and launched a $200 million industrial park in Kiambu, a town within the Nairobi metropolitan region.
The industrial park, which will host the company’s beverage and food processing operations, was launched on Thursday during a ceremony that was attended by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. The park is situated on an 80-acre parcel of industrial land and comprises a 550,000 litres per day effluent treatment plant, a 90,000 litres per hour water filtration facility. The park also has a 66-kilovolt power station to supply 7.5 megawatts of electricity to the factory. Construction of the park began in 2016.
Vimal Shah, Bidco Africa’s chairman, said the new complex is part of the company’s expansion plans and will host its new product lines including a range of breakfast cereals. Bidco, which is one of Kenya’s largest companies, is famed for its production of edible oils, soaps and baking powders. In 2017, the company announced its intentions to expand into the beverages and food sectors. The new businesses will operate from the new industrial park while its flagship products will remain at the company’s other production facilities.
“These are all new factories and machinery. We expect this new park to add to our total turnover and total product range. Our basket to the market shall therefore become bigger, which means there shall be significant employment creation as well as benefit Kenyans in general,” Shah said during the launch.
The new factory is expected to create 1,000 direct jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs throughout the Bidco distribution chain.
Bidco Oil Refineries manufactures edible oils, baking powders, canola and detergents. The company was founded in 1970 by Bhimji Depar Shah as a garment manufacturing outfit, before he and his sons shifted their focus to edible oils. Bidco has a 49% share of the edible oils market in Kenya. Bhimji’s eldest son Vimal Shah currently serves as the chairman of the $500 million (revenues) company.
source:https://www.forbes.com/mfonobongnsehe