Chinese computer consumable firm to establish Kenyan plant

NAIROBI - Chinese computer consumable firm, Anycolor Computer Consumables Co Ltd, plans to establish a Kenyan manufacturing plant and an East African Marketing Center in 2018, an official said on Wednesday.

Anycolor is a high-tech firm which engages in research, development and production of full range computer comsumables. Arecolor is the subsidiary and premium consumables brand of Anycolor.

Arecolor Kenya General Manager Xu Huanwen told Xinhua in Nairobi that they are seeking to establish a $10 million factory to produce printing consumables such as toner, ink, copy cartridges and power banks.

"We are currently looking for an ideal site in the special economic zones that has the entire necessary infrastructure," Xu said.

Arecolor currently has two factories in China and so the Kenyan facility will be the first overseas plant.

The plant is expected to provide employment to over 300 locals and produce initially over 3.6 million toners cartridges, 6 million ink cartridges and 2 million powerbanks annually.

The East African nation is a suitable location because it has lower production costs as compared to China as well as a large pool of skilled manpower.

Xu said the rising costs of production in China has made the firm to seek to establish facilities outside of the Asian nation.

He said that Africa is the future of the global manufacturing industry due to the continent's rapid economic growth.

Arecolor also wants to help Kenya achieve its goal of expanding its manufacturing base that currently contributes approximately 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).