Listed tyre manufacturer Sameer Africa PLC has appointed Mr. Simon Ngigi as its Managing Director with effect from 1st October 2018. Mr. Ngigi takes over from Mr. Allan Walmsley who is leaving the company after 6 years to pursue other interests.
Mr. Eric Githinji will however serve as acting Managing Director till Mr. Ngigi commences his term in October.
Mr. Simon Ngigi has been the Group managing director of Longhorn Publishers Limited before resigning in July 2018.
In June the company had announced that it is in the process of reviewing its presence in Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi where the general trading environments are becoming increasingly hostile.
The three markets have proved unprofitable for several years, dogged by a combination of political instability, declining purchasing power, tight liquidity and arbitrary and unwarranted tax demands.
In 2017 the Sameer Africa PLC laid off 277 employees following the closure of its Yana factory in Nairobi in September 2016. It is now importing tyres from India and China through contract manufacturing.
