Kisumu — A local steel manufacturer, Jumbo Steel Mill, has invested Sh2 billion in a new mattress and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) water tank factory in Kisumu.
The plant which sits on 27 acres has been installed with state of the art machinery running on 100 per cent 700kw solar power.
The investment targets to create over 600 jobs for locals.
Jumbo Steel Mills Managing Director (MD) Harsh Patel said the facility located at Korowe along the Kisumu-Kericho road will produce Ndovu Tanks and Ndovu Mattresses for the local and regional market.
The company, he said, will produce Mattresses of various kinds among them pocket spring mattresses, Bonnet Spring mattresses and the traditional mattresses used in schools.
“We have also invested in a PVC water tank manufacturing facility which will produce storage tanks ranging from 250 liters to 12,000 liters,” he said.
The multi-billion investment, he said, was informed by the strategic location of Kisumu city with the plant expected to serve the western region and neighboring countries of Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“Additionally, the government has revamped the port and the rail structures which allows for the flow of goods within the country efficiently. The skilled labor within Kisumu County is easily available and I am proud to announce that we built our new facility using experts and engineers from within the county,” he said.
Isuzu East Africa (EA) handed over 82 tracks purchased by the firm at a cost of Sh400 million to support in logistics.
“Logistics is an integral part of our business because of the timely deliveries of our products to our customers. We were keen to work with a reliable automotive partner to provide suitable vehicles that would meet this requirement,” said Harsh.
Isuzu East Africa after-sales Director Julius Mwangi pledged maintenance and service support for the fleet through the 55 authorized Isuzu service centers across Kenya adding that the company has invested in state of the art diagnostics kits to ensure all Isuzu customers get efficient technical support anywhere in Kenya.