Toyota Unveils New Hino Showroom & Workshop

Toyota Kenya has open doors to its new Hino showroom and workshop on Popo road off Mombasa Road.

The 15-acre park will add up as a depot for East and Central Africa, a vehicle logistics centre for warehousing and processing vehicles for the wider region.

16th Autoexpo Africa 2013 Starts Monday

The largest automobiles, spares and accessories exhibition in the region is here with exhibitors from 25 countries and visitors from 12 African countries expected.  

Date: April 29th -1st May 2013
Venue: Kenyatta International Conference Center(KICC), Nairobi

For 15 years, Autoexpo Africa has been chosen by the global manufacturers and exporters as the precise platform to enter the market of the millennium; Africa.

Autoexpo is supported by Kenya National Chambers of Commerce and Industry, MANTRADE, African Business Development Association among others.

Pradeep Paunrana is the richest Kenyan on Nairobi Stock Exchange

Ventures Africa has released the 10 richest Kenyans on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) based on top investors holdings at NSE as at the end of trading on Friday, December 14, 2012.

Athi River Mining Ltd CEO Pradeep H. Paurnana

Kenyan CEOs have shown that they own considerable shares in their companies and are also good investors at the bourse. Athi River Mining Ltd CEO, Pradeep H. Paunrana , tops the 10 richest Kenyans on the NSE list that includes Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi, Scan group CEO Bharat Thakkar, Co-founder of the NSE and Dyer and Blair CEO Jimnah Mbaru, and industrialist Chris Kirubi.

Other CEOs with considerable stake in their companies but missing in the list include AccessKenya Group CEO Jonathan Somen, Co-operative Bank of Kenya CEO Gideon Muriuki and Rea Vipingo Plantation CEO Neil Cuthbert.

Hero MotoCorp to set up Assembly Plant in Kenya

The world’s largest maker of two-wheeled vehicles, Hero MotoCorp announced on Thursday that it would establish assembly plants in Kenya and in the West African nation of Nigeria.  

The India-based company also announced that it had partnered with an undisclosed European Design and Technology firm for the establishment of the units.

Speaking to reporters at the annual Convention of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Hero MotoCorp CEO Pawan Munjal said, “We will have assembly plants in Latin America and Africa, and that will happen over a period of time. Kenya and Nigeria will have assembly operations.”

Mr. Munjal also said that they had identified a distributor for the Kenyan market and assembly operations will start soon. While Nigeria will enjoy the launch of its bikes around November – December this year with assembly operations scheduled to commence six months later.     

“I am looking at hubs to serve at different countries. For instance, Colombia could be one of the hubs, and, similarly, Nigeria and Kenya could also be other two hubs,” he added.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd Company Profile from Yahoo Finance

Hero MotoCorp is putting forth an epic performance in the manufacture of two-wheeled motor vehicles. Serving the Indian market, Hero MotoCorp (formerly Hero Honda Motors Ltd.) sells more than 3 million bikes annually with offerings ranging from fuel-efficient scooters to powerful motorcycles.

The company, considered the largest two-wheeler manufacturing company in the world, exports to Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Hero MotoCorp started as a joint venture between Hero Group (run by the Munjal family) and Honda Motors.

In mid-2011 Honda sold its 26% stake in Hero MotoCorp to Hero Group. CEO Pawan Munjal and the Munjal family own 52% of Hero MotoCorp.

Toyota and Vision 2030 board sign MOU

Japanese automaker Toyota to fund national flagship projects, Vision 2030

Toyota’s trade, investment and logistics arm, Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) and the Vision 2030 delivery board, on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding where Toyota will intensify investments in automobile, logistics, power and energy, mineral resource, environmental infrastructure, and food production and processing.

Currently TTC has an agreement with the Government of Kenya to build an oil pipeline linking Kenya’s Lamu to South Sudan as part of the multi-billion dollar Lamu Port Southern Sudan and Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET). The corridor is part of Kenya’s Vision 2030 flagship projects.

In promoting food production, TTC in collaboration with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will supply machinery to farmers in Mwea, the largest rice irrigation scheme in the country, located in Kirinyaga County.

Logistics centre 

The automaker is also set to establish a 1.28 billion-shilling logistics centre in Nairobi, which will serve 13 nations in the sub-Saharan region with direct sourcing of vehicles from Japan. The regional vehicle logistics centre and parts depot will be situated in South C, Nairobi.

The facility will also offer both managerial and mechanical courses for prospective employees, through an in-house technical teaching centre said Toyota Kenya’s chairperson Amb. Dennis Awori.

Kenya becomes the first country in Africa to sign a formal agreement to cooperate in the development of major investments.

TTC is a fully-fledged Japanese trading house operating diverse businesses spanning exploration, mining, distribution, processing, automotive, chemicals, electronics, machinery, and energy. 

Kenya to buy Iran oil despite sanctions

(Reuters) Kenya has agreed to import four million tons of Iranian crude oil per year, a senior Kenyan energy official said on Monday.

Energy permanent Patrick Wanyoike, said that two government signed the memorandum of understanding on the oil last month. However, the permanent secretary did not disclose how many years the agreement covered.

Kenya has taken to deal in Iranian oil in spite of the European Union recently approval of an embargo on Iranian oil, which is to come into operation this month. The United States Congress is also expected to increase sanctions against Iran this July.

In other news: Indian carmaker Mahindra and Mahindra Limited has re-entered the Kenyan market through a Sh 500 million partnership with Simba Corporation after exiting over ten years ago.

Simba Colt Motors, a division of Simba Corporation will sell its range of utility vehicles and pick-ups in the Kenyan market.