Kenya to host East Africa's first aluminium cans manufacturing plant

East Africa’s  manufacturing industry is set for growth  with the entry of GZ Industries, one of Africa's largest aluminium can manufacturers, currently with factories in Nigeria.

Expected to be ready in the first quarter of 2015, the $100 million facility will have an annual production capacity of 1.2 billion cans per year.

As East Africa's first aluminium can manufacturing plant, the GZI facility will be located on a 50 Acre plot in Sultan Hamud near Nairobi logistically well placed for the fast growing regional l beer  and  beverage industry and will start supply to the local market in early 2015. It will follow GZI's successful model in Nigeria and will receive support from its shareholders who are active widely across the region.

The decision to invest in an aluminium can line follows a significant upturn in Kenya's canned beverages market during the past two years and continuous demand from Kenya. Total annual production of sodas in the Kenyan market is reaching new highs, with a record 371.4 million liters in 2011.

Aluminium can packaging has also been growing in the beer market as  imported canned beer and soft drinks claim the interest of up-market drinks buyers. Kenya already leads other East African countries in the beer market with total production of 2.8 million hectolitres (hl).

“Fueled by the demands of our customers and in  line with the country's vision 2030 of an industrialised economy, we mark our entry to the Kenya as a way of contributing to the growth of the manufacturing sector," said the GZI’s CEO, Mr. Motti Goldmintz. "Besides developing the economy we hope to bring a new face to Sultan Hamud and its more than 20,000 residents.”

The technical skills to manufacture aluminium cans are very specific and are currently not available in Kenya, but expatriate employees will assist the local team in setting-up the plant and rolling out the training to ensure a fully skilled team of Kenyan staff and managers to take over the come running of the plant.

All the cans used in packaging canned beers and soft drinks are currently imported into Kenya and East Africa, creating a rising import need as the consumption of canned beverages increaes. The export of Kenyan beers is also being hampered by the use of bottles, which are bulky and prone to breakages. As the country now views more vigorous export growth its position as a leading producer is set to benefit from access to lower cost, domestically produced aluminium cans.

The Sultan Hamud based plant will also generate new exports of its own, catering principally for the Kenyan market but also for the growing demand from the other regional markets, including Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi.

With consumers becoming more aware of their impact on the environment and a growing trend of changing their lifestyles to reduce their carbon footprint, the average in-store consumer views a product’s packaging as the most important factor to consider, before purchasing the product.

GZI is at the forefront in developing aluminium can packaging technologies that are sustainable and cost-effective and appeal to consumers' ethics and ecological concerns. The value of used aluminium cans is considerable – aluminium scrap is many times more valuable than steel and is able to be recycled at low cost.

Sanitary Towel usage still low in Kenya despite campaigns

Kenya’s usage of sanitary towels is still way below the globally accepted limited, a fact attributed to the high cost of the kits and ballooning poverty levels.

Statistics indicate that the usage is growing marginally due to campaigns to reach poor Kenyan women and the government’s zero-rating of  import duty on the towels. Usage however remains at a paltry 30 percent.

With over 12 million menstruating females in Kenya, many women use cheaper options such as tissue paper, cotton wool and clothing to contain their menstrual flow exposing them to infections.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) one in 10 African adolescent girls in remote areas miss school during their menses and eventually drops out because of menstruation related issues.

“The low usage of pads is due to lack of awareness of sanitary pads and feminine hygiene education while in some areas menstrual health is considered taboo. However, with more players coming in to provide sanitary towels to needy girls we believe we will be able to increase usage,” said Ms. Victoria Kieti- Chesire, Always Sanitary Pads Brand Manager.

Despite the low market penetration, Kenyan women are better off than their Nigerian counterparts where the sanitary usage is at 8% of the total menstruating women population while Egypt leads with a 36% of market penetration. Currently, Kenya has a sanitary towel market potential of two billion shillings with only Sh 780 million exploited by all industry players.

Earlier this month, The Cabinet Secretary for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Jacob Kaimenyi said that the government will spend over KSh 200 million to reach 678,770 disadvantaged girls across the countries primary schools. Players in the sanitary towel industry expect that the government initiative will be able to open more avenues to create awareness hence usage among Kenyan girls and women.

“We believe that players in the industry will be able to gain traction as consumer awareness is increased and taboos are stamped out. At Always, we hope to utilize the internet to disperse feminine hygiene education and captivating advertisements to show the need for personal hygiene among young girls,” said Ms. Kieti.

A recent study by Consumer Insight showed that Always enjoyed an unprecedented 62% market share followed by Stay Free with a 9%. The study accredited Always consistent marketing formula that focused on the youth as its winning recipe. The brand market leadership is attributed to its strategy to providing feminine hygiene education and free samples to schools girls as a point of market entry.

The brand recently relaunched its Always Keeping Girls in School campaign setting aside millions of shillings to distribute free Always pads and underwear to 10,000 girls for a period of at least one year.

Always is one of Procter & Gamble’s flagship brands in the Kenyan market and it is marking its 20th anniversary in the market with a commitment to feminine health, market development and corporate social responsibility. The company has its sights on maintaining and growing the market leadership position through investing more resources in the sanitary towel segment and focusing on growing markets, improving mix, localizing production, and leveraging scale.

Airtel Africa team brightens up orphaned children in Mathare school

Bharti Airtel, a leading telecommunications service provider with operations in 20 countries across South Asia and Africa, made a connection with over 800 orphaned children in Mathare, by visiting Mogra Star Academy, one of the most underprivileged institutions of its kind in the Kenyan capital.

Airtel Africa’s marketing team, which drives the company’s brand in the continent, made a donation of Kshs 150,000 and other items including clothes, blankets and toys to the children. More importantly, the team interacted with the children, inspiring them with tips on how to build their budding potential while in school.

Mogra Star is located in Nairobi’s Mathare, a slum area situated three miles east of the city’s central business district, and considered one of the worst in Africa. Mathare is home to over 600,000 inhabitants occupying an area of two square miles.

Airtel Africa Chief Marketing Officer Andre Beyers, who led the team, said: “Airtel’s marketing team has been inspired by the story of Mogra Star and its indomitable spirit of the founder who has been selfless in nurturing the dreams of these children. Our team’s hope is to see the institution developed in order to secure as many lives out there in the streets as possible, and transform them into tomorrow's leaders.”

Mr. Beyers said the marketing team’s philanthropic gesture is a part of the company’s larger corporate responsibility goal of supporting sustainable learning in schools, a model that Airtel has adopted for tens of schools across Africa.

Mogra Star Academy provides education at both primary and secondary levels and seeks to provide a better foundation for a brighter future to the pupils and students. The institution not only provides education but also food and shelter to the destitute children.

The Mogra Project was founded in 1998 as an initiative of Mrs. Hanna Njoroge. Having been brought up in the slums, she was aware of the many children unable to go to school because of abject poverty with their parents also unable to pay school fees.

Mrs Njoroge realized the children not attending school engaged in petty crime, scavenged for food and were being forced into child labour. She set up a children’s home in Mathare which she registered as a charitable children’s institution. She then realized many children were unable to attend a school and so founded Mogra Star Academy to provide free education in the Mathare slum.

Airtel Africa’s ‘Our School’ programme involves tens of primary schools which have been adopted in rural areas of 17 African countries where Airtel operates. Working closely with the governments in these countries, the initiative seeks to improve the delivery of quality education to children, especially those from underprivileged areas. So far the schools under the programme are catering to over 16,000 underprivileged children.