Nyayo car firm seeks to revamp its operations

Numerical Machining Complex (NMC), a government owned company, says it needs Sh775 million to re-engineer itself and churn out industrial spare parts to be sold across Africa.

The injection will accelerate the government’s ambitious plans to steer Kenya into the path of industrialisation.

The NMC manufacturers spare parts for cars and for industrial use at its complex located at the Kenya Railways headquarters in Nairobi.

A new strategic plan for the engineering firm, established in the 1990s to make cars, could transform the plant into a bigger manufacturing outfit to produce water pumps, lathe machines, and industrial machine spare parts.

The firm says it will use Sh28 million to remodel its business plan for increased profitability while a further Sh36 million would be used in marketing.

The plant will use Sh357 million to strengthen and modernise its manufacturing capacity.

It is also planning a modern steel melting facility with the capacity to make high quality materials for sale in Kenya and across Africa.

The recent ban on the export of scrap metals has given the facility a lifeline after lying idle for nearly eight years.

It has started smelting scrap metal, the managing director, Mr George Onyango, said on Thursday.

“The Numeric Machining Complex is a strategic company for Kenya, we must not privatise it,” said Mr Onyango.

The only way to keep the engineering company running is to ban the export of our raw materials which are the scrap metals.

Scrap metals are in high demand across the globe as countries look for raw materials to manufacture steel and iron sheets.

The improving economic growth in the east Africa region and the rising prices of metals across the globe is creating new demand for scrap metals especially in the east African region where smelters are sourcing scrap metals for the manufacture of iron sheets and steel for housing construction.

Metals and steel products are Kenya’s largest manufactured goods exported within the Common Markets for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).

The country’s 258 registered steel and metal products manufacturers export some 122,000 metric tonnes of various metal and steel products valued at over Sh4 billion annually, leaving local users of steel and metal products with too little to share.