Bidco is set to expand its detergent and processed foods business using a Sh3.2 billion loan secured from a group of financiers including the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The firm says the expansion plan will employ up to 3,000 new staff.
It has already secured a piece of land off the Thika-Garissa highway on which it plans to build a production and bottling facility.
Consumer goods manufacturer, Bidco, is set to expand its detergent and processed foods business using a Sh3.2 billion ($36.5 million) loan secured from a group of financiers including the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Bidco says the expansion plan will employ up to 3,000 new staff.
“We want to expand our current business, our goal is to go bigger and bring new products on board,” said chief executive Vimal Shah yesterday after the signing of the loan deal at a Nairobi hotel.
IFC is the private lending arm of the World Bank. It was the main financier in the syndicated seven-year loan.
Mr Shah said the new growth strategy is targeted at meeting growing demand in the market, but maintained that the focus will be on agribusiness to create more links with farmers.
Bidco currently manufactures edible oils, cooking fats, soaps, baking powder, animal feeds and detergents in a portfolio of 30 brands that control over 60 per cent of the cooking fat market and 54 per cent of the cooking oil market in Kenya, according to Consumer Insight.
Its main competitors include Nairobi’s Kapa Oil, coast-based Pwani Oil and Nakuru-based Menengai Oil.
The Thika-based manufacturer said it intends to increase its production of soft detergents from the current 300 to 400 tonnes to upwards of 2,000 to 3,000 tons annually and at the same time increase its market presence.
The IFC loan to Bidco will only be used to finance ventures in the Kenyan market, though the manufacturer has factories in neighbouring countries that include Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, from where it exports to 14 other African markets.
Mr Shah said the company would peg its growth strategy on connecting to many farmers across the country to ensure consistent supply.
Currently the firm has contracted 30,000 farmers, with about 10,000 selling oil seeds to them.
“Bidco has been expanding steadily to meet consumer demand for food and household products across Kenya and Africa .The IFC investment will enable us to set up new manufacturing plants in Kenya and create new employment opportunities,” said Bidco’s executive director Tarun Shah
The IFC said it will in 2018 double its investment volume in Africa. The lender had in its fiscal year ending June 2013 invested $1 billion through agribusiness in Africa.
Bidco which has a direct workforce of 6,000 employees across the east African region announced recently that it will be diversifying into non-carbonated still drinks, carbonated soft drinks and bottled water.
The company has already secured a piece of land off the Thika-Garissa highway on which it plans to build a production and bottling facility.
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