South Africa has signed a deal with Kenya to assemble vehicles in Thika, President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced Wednesday.
This follows an agreement allowing the German automaker to use the Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers (KVM) facility in Thika to assemble its popular models beginning with the Volkswagen Vivo.
The country’s first fully-assembled Vivo is expected to roll out of the Thika plant by December this year.
Making the announcement today, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the plant would later start assembling a variety of makes.
“I am happy to welcome back the Volkswagen Group, currently the largest car manufacturer in the world, back to Kenya,” said Mr Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi, where he witnessed the signing of the agreement between Kenya and Volkswagen.
The Volkswagen South Africa CEO Thomas Schafer said the company was attracted by Kenya’s potential to export vehicles to the wider East Africa region.
“We will start operations immediately,” he said.
The German automaker used to operate in Kenya in the 1960s until 1977 and used to assemble Volkswagen vans, microbuses and the famous Kombi.
President Kenyatta said the return of Volkswagen was a response to the government’s focus on investments in infrastructure including rail, roads and energy, regulatory and business environment reform, linking foreign direct investments to local enterprises and improving human resource capacity.
“Major investors such as Volkswagen realize that Kenya is now a more competitive investment destination, and are responding by pursuing opportunities here,” President Kenyatta said.
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