Since opening its Low-Voltage (LV) manufacturing facility in Kenya in July last year, electrical equipment and services supplier ACTOM has identified several growth opportunities in the region.

Kelvin Ageng’o Oriwo, General Manager of ACTOM Kenya, says while the factory has been heavily focused on the LV space, it recently built its first Medium-Voltage (MV) protection panel.

“Since we are the only manufacturer in East Africa who builds MV protection panels, we expect this to be a key area of growth for us across the East Africa region, specifically in the Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian markets,” says Oriwo.

He adds that ACTOM Kenya has recently secured various “mission-critical” contracts, such as for the supply of LV Panel BlokSets to Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda.

“The orders from Kenya and Rwanda are critical as the pharmaceuticals sector is a quality- and specification-sensitive space. This therefore speaks to our strength in terms of product quality and guarantees, alongside our capacity to service clients specifically concerned with assurance and quality,” stated Kelvin.

“The Uganda contract is a sensitive project with a major brand client, reflecting the growing trust brands are placing in ACTOM Kenya in the region. Given that the client is in Uganda, the contract aligns with our efforts to ramp up our regional output.”

Global trends

Oriwo says ACTOM’s decision to establish a manufacturing hub in Kenya was largely influenced by global trends of multinational companies increasingly coming into East Africa, with their entry point most often being Kenya.

“Additionally, the technical capacity in Kenya is generally much higher than in many countries in the Sub-Saharan region. So, it makes it easy for an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) like ACTOM to find its footing in this country,” he explains. 

“Along with those factors, ACTOM has also performed very well in South Africa over the years. However, if you compare South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the combined GDPs of Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, it is a bigger market than South Africa.”

To achieve its goal of becoming the powerhouse that powers Africa, it makes sense for the group to drive geographical diversification into East Africa.

Oriwo points out that the electricity uptake per capita in the East African region is also generally lower than in South Africa, meaning that the region has a lot of growth potential in the energy space. It therefore makes sense for an OEM to plug into this opportunity.

Fully localised

ACTOM Kenya’s manufacturing facility is now 100% localised and employs 66 people directly and a further six indirectly. Oriwo says that this fosters a sense of pride and confidence within the local business community as they operate and manage a large factory.

He added that the company will participate in the Power and Energy Africa Expo 2024, which will be held in Nairobi from 26 to 28 June 2024.

“ACTOM Kenya is a smaller representation of the ACTOM Group, which has a vast array of product offerings. Participating in the Power and Energy Africa Expo 2024 is an opportunity for us to show the region what ACTOM at its full scale is all about,” he says.

“The strategy for ACTOM Kenya in this region is to eventually bring the entire offering of the group into the region and not just what we manufacture in Kenya. This expo is a good opportunity for us to showcase the breadth of products and capacity that we have in ACTOM.”