De La Rue invests Ksh286 million in expansion of Kenya operations
by Martin Mwita
January 30, 2018
NAIROBI, KENYA, JAN 30 — Designer and commercial printer of banknotes — De La Rue has invested KShs286 million (US$2.9 million) in the expansion of its site in Kenya, to strengthen and underpin its local operations.
This is part of a long term investment of Ksh1.4 billion to upgrade its operational site in Nairobi, as it seeks to remain a regional hub for East Africa and the wider continent and a global centre of excellence for De La Rue.
The firm’s marketing director, Robin Mackenzie, says the huge investment in expansion of the site will standardise the firm’s global manufacturing footprint and increase its overall flexibility and capability.
This has the potential to create more jobs and enhance Kenya’s high tech export capability.
There are currently 300 employees on site.
Amongst other new capabilities, the upgrade includes the installation of a state of the art Komori Varnish Press and an increase to the overall factory size.
Mackenzie says the Varnish Press will enhance DLR Kenya’s service offering and its technical capability to meet the increasing market demand for more durable varnished banknotes.
The design and construction of the building is being undertaken by local Kenyan companies and all support services were sourced via the strong local Kenyan supply chain.
“This phase of the project is on plan for completion early 2018 and has brought together approximately 100 skilled Kenyan tradesmen from the local area,” he said.
The state of the art new destruction system is being installed at a cost of Ksh51.2million (US$512,000) and will allow De La Rue to securely manage end of life note destruction and disposal in accordance with its world class ISO 14298 and DIN66399 certifications.
It will also enable the firm to offer a complete one stop shop service to existing and potential customers, from design to destruction, in a highly secure environment and manage end of life note destruction and disposal for any banknote securely.
“The end waste product from the system is used as part of the De La Rue Kenya corporate social responsibility to the local community,” Mackenzie said.
The Ksh28.7million (US$287,000) state of the art air-lock loading bay will also ensure the firm continues to meet its commitment to ISO 14298 and its Intergraf accreditation requirements.
Its design and construction is being undertaken by local Kenyan companies and is on schedule for completion next month.
The DLR Kenya site has been manufacturing for 25 years, and was the first and still is the only site on the African continent to hold the highest level of security accreditation covered by ISO 14298.
De La Rue designs, manufactures and delivers banknotes, banknote substrates and security features to customers in a world where currency continues to be a key part of the developing payments eco-system.
It is the only fully integrated supplier of both paper and polymer banknotes, and creates security features that ensure banknotes are protected against counterfeiting.
The London Stock Exchange (LON-DLAR) listed firm is the world’s largest commercial printer of passports, delivering national and international identity tokens and software solutions for governments in a world that is increasingly focused on the importance of a legal and secure identity for every individual.
It also creates and delivers secure product identifiers and ‘track and trace’ software for governments and commercial customers alike, to help to tackle the challenge of illicit or counterfeit goods and the collection of revenue and excise duties.
Source:
Exchange