Background

After independence from Britain in 1963, politics was dominated by the charismatic Jomo Kenyatta. He was succeeded in 1978 by Daniel arap Moi, who remained in power for 24 years. The ruling Kenya African National Union, KANU, was the country's only legal political party for much of the 1980s.

Violent unrest - and international pressure - led to the restoration of multi-party politics in the early 1990s. But it was to be another decade before opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki ended nearly 40 years of KANU rule with his landslide victory in 2002's general election promising to fight endemic corruption and to address Kenya's economic woes.

Situated on the equator on Africa's east coast, Kenya has been described as "the cradle of humanity". It is also regarded as the regional hub for trade and finance with Nairobi being the ideal business location for targeting the East Africa region. It was therefore a welcome opportunity when Siemens Atea, Belgium in late 2000 chose Reime as their partner, after having successfully closed an agreement with Safaricom Limited, for the supply, installation and commissioning of a GSM 900/1800 network in the country.

Reime Kenya was incorporated in August 2000 and is presently a well functioning business unit of in excess of 100 employees serving various customers in the region with niche products and services. Primary focus is the telecommunication market (operators and vendors) where both products and services are well developed consequential of our long term presence in this market. A second focus is the electrical installation market and, in general, the effort to broaden the range of services and products thereby expanding the customer portfolio to include both private and governmental companies and departments. Furthermore, the company is now positioned for network maintenance contracts and to enter the after-sales market both with existing and potential new customers.

Based on the current skills and experience, Reime Kenya Ltd will include local production of relevant steel components, extended electrical installations in buildings and on telecommunication sites, self-designed shelter and generator housing concepts in its product portfolio. Looking at 2006 and ahead, Reime Kenya Ltd. has a strong and professional relationship with Safaricom, Kenya’s leading mobile telephone operator. We further expect that the Kenyan telecommunication market will be subject to a significant expansion in the immediate future. New operators are entering the market and we also experience an increased competition.