Kenyan battery firm Associated Battery Manufacturers (ABM) has opened a plant capable of producing lead-acid batteries.
The Sh600 million (US $6.56million) maintenance free (MF) battery manufacturing plant on was officially opened on February 17.
The plant is the first in East, Central and Southern Africa to produce maintenance free (MF) batteries, known as Valve Regulated Lead-Acid (VRLA) or Sealed batteries.
Dubbed as Chloride Exide Powerlast, the MF batteries ranging in size from 32 Amp Hours to 200 Amp Hours will be distributed throughout East Africa by Chloride Exide.
The MF batteries are produced from scrap batteries from old cars and solar batteries. The lead material is removed, processed and purified to 99.99 percent, ready for battery manufacturing.
The company will, however, continue to produce the normal lead-acid batteries.
The Sh600 million investment financed through the company’s own cash reserves and credit facility from NIC bank will see ABM cease importing the batteries which it has been sourcing from South Korea for the last 15 years.
The investment was made on the back of a government ban for export of lead which the company says is critical in their manufacturing process.