German manufacturer STIHL opens new subsidiary in Kenya
German manufacturer STIHL has opened its second subsidiary on the African continent in Kenya as it also celebrated the 25th anniversary of its subsidiary in South Africa. STIHL is laying the foundations for further growth and clearly demonstrating its commitment to the important African market.
"Africa is an important market for STIHL, and we look forward to growing with both our business and our dealer network on this continent," said Norbert Pick, STIHL Executive Board Member for Marketing and Sales. An office was set up in Kenya in 2017 with the aim of offering training and product demonstrations, especially for agricultural cooperatives. "It quickly became clear that despite ongoing promotion activities, we lacked a sales structure based on a dense dealer network in the eastern African countries. Such organisations are one of the key success factors that has made STIHL the global market leader," said Pick.
Francois Marais, Managing Director of the STIHL company in Kenya said, "We made the decision in late 2020 to increase our investment and turn the office in Kenya into a fully fledged STIHL subsidiary with marketing, training, logistics and sales functions. This means we can leverage the potential in eastern Africa even more effectively."
A roughly 1,000 square-metre office between the airport and the centre of Nairobi was rented and extensively renovated, and has now been officially opened. Sebastian Groth, the German ambassador to Kenya, joined the ceremony in person. The new subsidiary currently employs 16 people and supplies STIHL products to the dealer network in Kenya, as well as in Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia. An additional warehouse in Nairobi is operated by Fargo Courier, an external logistics provider.
The STIHL Group develops, manufactures and distributes power tools for professional forestry and agriculture as well as for garden and landscape maintenance, the construction sector and private garden owners. The product range is complemented by digital solutions and services.
Products are distributed through authorised dealers and STIHL's own online-shops, which will be expanded internationally over the next few years – including 42 sales and marketing subsidiaries, about 120 importers and more than 55,000 servicing dealers in over 160 countries. STIHL produces in own plants in seven countries: Germany, USA, Brazil, Switzerland, Austria, China and in the Philippines.
