This archive report was first published on 12 May 2020.
Sameer Africa, a Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm, has shut down its tyre distribution business, a move that will see it sack 73 employees at the end of this month.
The company had recently retrenched 52 workers, with the upcoming downsizing set to raise the total jobs lost to 125.
Sameer's chief executive, Peter Gitonga, wrote to the Nairobi County Labour Office on April 24, 2020, stating that the tyre business had continued to suffer despite various measures, including the 2016 decision to close the Nairobi factory and outsource production to Asia.
According to Sameer, the tyre business accounts for about 90 percent of the company's revenue, with sales standing at Sh2.1 billion in the year ended December 2018.
The company's decision to shut down the tyre business has drawn criticism from a section of shareholders, who claim that they were not informed of the strategic direction of the company.
Sameer chairman Erastus Mwongera and non-executive director Akif Butt declined to comment on the matter.
