This archive report was first published on 5 November 2019.
Published on November 5, 2019, Guala Closures East Africa (GCEA) has invested KSh 570 million in a state-of-the-art factory in Nairobi to combat counterfeits in the Kenyan market.
The factory, launched on Monday, aims to eliminate fake drinks in Kenya, where one in every five goods sold in major towns is a counterfeit.
As a leading screw-top manufacturer, GCEA currently supplies caps to prominent brands like Kenya Wine Agencies Limited (KWAL) and EABL.
According to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, the government loses KSh 200 billion annually to counterfeits, posing a significant threat to public health, security, and the economy.
GCEA's new factory incorporates the latest technology to curb counterfeiting and will serve local alcohol manufacturers in Kenya and East Africa.
“GCEA closures will help fight counterfeit products in African alcohol markets which are posing a severe threat to public health, security, and the economy of the country,” said GCEA MD Sadanand Hanagodimath during the launch.
The KSh570 million plant will be Guala Closures' second in Africa, furthering the company's globalization strategy. Guala had previously set up a plant in Cape Town in 2012, its first in Africa.
For Guala Closures Group CEO Marco Giovannini, internationalization is a key growth factor. He stated, “For us, internationalization is a decisive and strategic growth factor. We are not stopping here, we will double the size of our production plant in Kenya and we are embarking on a new challenge in Belarus.”
