Kenyan firm Bico has partnered with Liebherr which is a German heavy machinery maker to construct an assembling plant in Kenya in the capital Nairobi.
The assembling plant in Kenya which is estimated to cost US$ 218m will see the assembly of road construction and agricultural equipment done in Kenya.
The registered Kenyan company, Bico intends to produce at least 30 units of earth movers, water drilling machines and farm machinery such as tractors every month.
“We have set a target to produce at least 30 units a month comprising of earth movers, water drilling machines and farm machinery such as tractors,” said Bico founder Andrew Malunga.
He added that they acquired a five acre piece of land in Nairobi where the assembly plant will be built, while a showroom will be set up in Malindi.
“The infrastructure developments that have been initiated by the government will transform this country and proper equipment for construction is required. We believe that we have come in at the right time to provide these equipment,” said Mr. Malunga.
They anticipate that their main customers will be county governments due to the introduction of devolution in Kenya that is still picking up.
“As the counties grapple with the huge mandate of providing residents with good infrastructure and agricultural machinery, there is the challenge of equipment and we expect that this venture will come in handy for the devolved units,” he said, pointing out that assembling the equipment locally will help reduce their prices.
“Marketing of the farm inputs locally will, for instance, save taxpayers from excessive taxation, and the spare parts for the machines will also be readily available,” he added.
This is a very good initiative since it is going to be cheaper, a buyer needs US$ 190,000 to import a loader from a country like Germany but the local ones will cost US$ 123,000 only.
“Liebherr products have been proved to be reliable and durable and will serve as a key driver to development in the counties,” said the Managing Director Shadrack Mwangolo.
The Liebherr Group is a large equipment manufacturer based in Switzerland. It consists of over 130 companies organized into ten Divisions: Earthmoving, Mining, Mobile Cranes, Tower Cranes, Concrete Technology, Maritime Cranes, Aerospace and Transportation Systems, Machine Tools and Automation Systems, Domestic Appliances, and Components.
There is no such arrangement between Liebherr and BICO. This can be confirmed with Liebherr Group head office directly and with their sole authorised agent in Kenya, Plains Equipment Ltd. Furthermore Liebherr has no intention of being involved in an assembly plant in Kenya.
For any enquiries on this or for Liebherr equipment generally please contact Plains Equipment on 0705 226627 or 0720 833068