Jim Dando, Nissan’s director of operations, announced that the Asian company plans to set a car assembly plant in Kenya.

According to information relayed by Bloomberg, the company will gradually start by assembling half-finished vehicles in the existing plants with an investment of about $20 million.

By 2019, the Japanese company would have set an operational assembly line and thus be able to easily sell its cars on the East African market. This will also help the implementation of Kenya’s national plan for the development of a regional mobile manufacturing unit.

Let’s note that Nissan came on Kenyan market after Volkswagen AG, PSA Peugeot and CNH Industrial NV had announced plans to set factories in the country in 2017. These projects are expected to boost automotive industry in Africa, where the number of vehicle owners represents about a quarter of the global average.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou (intern)