A Sh1 billion nut processing factory is under construction at the Vipingo in Kilifi county.
The factory, which is expected to employ up to 1,000 residents, is being developed by Vipingo Development Limited, a subsidiary of Centum Investment PLC.
Civil works for the factory have been completed and the erection of the prefabricated godowns is ongoing and set for completion by end of the year.
Vipingo Development Limited managing director Ken Mbae in a press release said the project is being set up by a consortium of established international investors in the food processing and value addition sector, who have acquired development rights from VDL.
Currently, he said, the construction work is going on at the Vipingo Development’s manufacturing hub within Vipingo Kilifi.
“The use of modular construction technology means the project will be operational by quarter one of 2022 and have an immediate impact on the economy of Kilifi county and beyond," he said.
Mbae said the nuts factory will have a processing capacity of more than 6,000 tonnes of raw cashewnuts and will offer a reliable offtake for tens of thousands of coastal farmers who grow cashewnuts as cash crop.
He said the packaged nuts will be sold to both local and international buyers with the developers targeting the markets with the highest returns.
“Besides signing up coastal farmers for supply of raw nuts, the factory will also be supplied by Vipingo Development’s 200-acre cashew nuts plantation guarantying the minimum supply threshold for an all-year operation,” the MD said.
Mbae said job carders at the factory will include low-skilled labourers to process the cashewnuts and skilled employees who will operate the machines. There will also be mid-level and senior managers in operations, quality assurance and logistics.
The managing director said there are other manufacturers that have already secured development rights at the Vipingo Industrial Park including a warehousing firm, water bottling and LPG processing companies.
“This is possibly the best place to set up your manufacturing business in close proximity to the port. Investors will save on transport costs for imported raw materials, enabling them to sell finished products at a discount to competition,” Mbae said.
Vipingo Development Limited is a fully owned subsidiary of Centum Investment PLC and is behind the transformation of the former 10,000-acre Rea Vipingo sisal plantation into an urban node comprising residential, commercial, industrial, hospitality, health care and school districts.
Already over 400 residents of the initial Awali and Palm Ridge estates within the master-planned development have received keys to their new houses.
-Edited by SKanyara