Sameer Africa has announced a return of its tyre business after exiting the market in May 2020.
The company, in a communiqué on Monday, said demand for its tyre brand ‘Yana’ in the local market has necessitated the decision to revive the business.
The decision was arrived at during a board of director meeting held last month.
During the meeting, the top brass agreed on a four-year strategic plan anchored on both its real estate portfolio and the extensive tyre industry experience.
The company has also confirmed the appointment of Peter Gitonga as the firm’s Managing Director with effect from January 1, 2021.
Read: Sameer Africa Loss Doubles To Ksh1 Billion In 2019 As Management Predicts A Shaky 2020
Gitonga, who holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and a Masters of Science in Strategic Management, has previously served in various capacities at the senior management level and as a director of the company.
Sameer Africa had in April last year resolved close down the tyre business with Gitonga who was the acting Managing Director then saying attempts to revive the company’s tyre business had failed despite implementing several strategies.
Gitonga announced that 73 staffers would lose their jobs as a result of the shutdown.
Read Also: Sameer Africa External Auditor KPMG Resigns As Company is Accused of Dirty Deals With Gov’t
“The implication of this is that a number of positions/roles within the Company particularly roles that are currently undertaken by employees who are engaged at the affected locations, will become redundant. It is therefore contemplated that approximately seventy three (73) employees drawn from both management and unionisable cadres will have their employment contracts terminated on account of redundancy, ” Gitonga said in a letter to Nairobi County Labour office dated April 24, 2020.
The company had in 2016 stopped local manufacturing of its key tyre brand Yana and opted to outsource to Asia.
Sameer Africa net loss for the year ended December 2019 almost doubled to Ksh1.062 billion as compared to a loss of Ksh529 million recorded in 2018.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com or WhatsApp +254707482874. You can also find us on Telegram through www.t.me/kahawatungu
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
