Sierra Cables PLC (SIRA), a subsidiary of Sierra Holdings, last week announced that the company plans to expand and strengthen its businesses in Africa and the Pacific through more investments in those countries.
The company’s Finance and Strategic Planning Manager Prasad Boralessa said, this decision has been taken as the local market has already saturated. Last year, SIRA had invested US$ 2 million on a power transmission cable manufacturing plant in Kenya with a monthly capacity of 500 tonnes.
The company entered into a joint venture agreement last month to set up a power cable manufacturing plant in Fiji with three other companies. “We will also provide technical know-how in setting up of the company and its operations in Fiji,” he added. The company hopes to take up a 30 percent stake in the plant with an investment of US$ 4 million. It will have the capacity to manufacture 300 tonnes monthly, company officials said at a press conference last week. Sierra Cables East Africa (SCEA) has already secured the first supply order worth US$ one million from Rural Electrification Authority (REA) of Kenya. Kenya is set to become a middle income country by 2030. And the SCEA is planning to use this opportunity to grow within the East African region, SIRA Managing Director Shamendra Panditha said.