Firms rush to set up camp, eyes bloc’s expanded client base

By Morris Aron

Barely a week after President Kibaki urged firms to take advantage of the operationalisation of the East African Community common market, which comes into effect today, firms are moving in earnest to make their presence felt in the five member states.

Fusion Capital —a Kenyan based specialised finance company providing flexible loans and equity partnerships to small and medium enterprises — said it will open another office in Rwanda and Tanzania by the end of this week, in a bid to tap into the regional market’s potential. This is in addition to its presence in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kampala.

Last Friday another company, APC by Schneider Electric, the American global leader in critical power and cooling services, opened a swap centre in Nairobi in a bid to provide local warranty support on single-phase uninterruptible power supplies (UPSes), crucial gadget for any office electronics.

Less than a month ago, the firm opened a similar centre in Dar-es-alam, Tanzania, a move it says is expected to shorten the time span for replacements of UPSes to just under a week in the wake of anticipated growth demand for both for new purchases, and for replacements across the region with the fast integrating common market. It is understood that the firm is eyeing having another office in Kampala.

But perhaps one of the boldest moves so far is the decision by Kenya’s biggest bank by assets, Kenya Commercial Bank, to raise Sh15 billion of additional capital through a rights issue, which will go into consolidating its business across the East African region.