Toshiba Opens Kenya Office To Contribute To Regional
Development
Q.
Mr. Shimada Welcome to Kenya
Shimada:
Thank you very much
Q.
The last time you were here was on a family trip,
and now you have come on business. Kindly take us
through your experience in Kenya.
Shimada:
When my family and I lived in Dubai, we made our
first trip to Kenya to visit the Maasai Mara. It
left us with a very good impression of Kenya.
Subsequently, as managing director of Toshiba Africa
in South Africa since 2016, I have had quite a few
opportunities to visit Kenya on business, and I have
always found the Kenyan people to be full of energy
and very courteous, and open to new opportunities.
These experiences made me feel there is strong
potential to grow our business in Kenya. Toshiba’s
involvement in the business scene in Kenya has been
slow in recent years, therefore I felt the need to
act on these positive attributes by focusing on our
business in Kenya.
Q.
Talk to us about Toshiba’s business focus in Africa.
What are you looking forward to in the years to
come?
Shimada:
It’s over fifty years since we established an office
in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1967. It has served
as our corporate office, and from there we have done
several energy and infrastructure projects in power
generation, transmission and distribution, and
providing locomotives for railways in Africa. Since
2000, we have expanded our business by supplying
geothermal and hydropower equipment and
air-conditioning systems in East Africa, which still
has immense untapped potential. We therefore decided
to open an office in Kenya in order to explore
business opportunities in the region; not only in
our current businesses in Africa, but also to pursue
new business opportunities in areas like water
treatment.
Olkaria Geothermal power station unit IV
Q.
What relevance do your products have for the East
African Market?
Shimada:
In Kenya, we have supplied more than 24,000 power
distribution transformers to Kenya Power and
Lighting Company (KPLC). One problem Kenya faces is
distribution loss. For example you produce 100
megawatts of electricity but lose 17 megawatts
during power distribution. We have energy efficient
products with technologies that help reduce this
loss. This will help to improve the life of people
in Kenya by delivering more electricity, and also
help companies like KPLC to improve their
profitability.
Q.
We know Toshiba is a Japanese company but you also
have global partnerships. Tell us how you go about
these partnerships.
Shimada:
Toshiba is mainly a manufacturer but we partner with
other companies in offering solutions. For instance
in East Africa we have concluded MOUs with French,
Chinese and Kenyan companies in the energy sector in
order to deliver the solutions the region requires.
As Toshiba, we have our strengths, and we want to
combine these with the strengths other companies
have in different areas, in order to provide
wholesale solutions that fit the areas we operate
in. We are also very positive in partnering with
local companies, as exchanging knowledge with them
can be mutually beneficial.
Q.
You are coming into Kenya at a time when there is
excitement about the government’s Big 4 Agenda set
out by the president for his legacy term, focusing
on four pillars, which are affordable housing, food
and nutrition security, manufacturing and
healthcare. How do you see Toshiba assisting in
economic development in Kenya as far as the Big 4 is
concerned?
Shimada:
We are glad to have set up an office at a time the
government is dedicating its efforts to achieving
the Big 4 Agenda. Our support will not necessarily
be through working directly with the government, but
through our solutions. Our renewable energy and
efficient air-conditioning and water treatment
systems can support work around the four main
pillars of the Big 4 Agenda.
Q.
What is the importance of the establishment of the
Kenya office?
Shimada:
We saw it necessary to establish a presence in East
African office, because having an office here makes
it easier for us to be in direct and constant
communication with our clients, and also to collect
necessary market information for developing
tailor-made solutions for this region. For example,
when we started our air-conditioning system business
here twenty years ago, it was difficult to make
inroads because we had no prior information about
the market. But now, we have created networks
through continuous communication with our customers,
and the business is currently doing well.
Q.
Do you foresee any challenges as you work to expand
in the East African market?
Shimada:
One of the challenges we are facing in the East
African Market is the fact that most people only
know Toshiba for our consumer products, like
laptops, and few people know that we offer other
solutions in the energy and infrastructure sector.
Our challenge is to make them aware of the
business–to-business and business-to-government
component of our work, where we supply solutions and
services to businesses like KENGEN and KPLC. We are
hoping that by expanding our presence in Kenya, the
population will get to know more about us, our
products and solutions.
Left: Mr. Shimada speaks at the opening ceremony on May
2nd 2019
Right: “Kagamiwari,”a Japanese traditional
ceremony for good luck, in which a barrel of sake is
opened with mallets and the contents shared
Q.
What are your expectations after this launch?
Shimada:
We are hoping to create meaningful relationships
with our clients, partners in government and the
private sector, as well as with interested
investors, in order to win their trust and
confidence. Through this approach we hope to secure
business in Kenya and the wider East Africa. The
opening of the Kenya office is part of our plan to
expand our presence in Africa, and once we are fully
established here, we intend to roll out plans for
moving into West Africa.
Q.
Mr. Shimada thank you so much for your time.
Shimada:
Thank you too. Asante Sana.
Bio of interviewer Laban and Mr Shimada:
The Interviewer Laban-Cliff Onserio is a 2016 Wincott
Fellow at the Reuters Institute at the University of
Oxford. He has also trained with the Bloomberg Media
Initiative for Africa. His calling is in Business
Journalism where he covers financial and macroeconomic
news in East Africa. He has moderated and interviewed
business leaders in the World Economic Forum, UNCTAD 14
and TICAD IV Global Events. He often writes for the
Business Daily Newspaper, East Africa's authority in
business. Laban-Cliff was named the Best TV Business
News Reporter in the 2015 Media Council of Kenya Awards
(MCKA). His passion is in telling Africa's Growth Story
and his work mantra is to "Tell it fast, accurately and
impassively"
Iwasuke Shimada joined Toshiba in April 1994. He
initially worked in manufacturing, but most of his
career has been dedicated to sales and marketing in
international markets. His assignments have extended
across Toshiba’s diverse product lines, from power
systems to digital products, and to the markets of
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India and Southeast
Asia. Most recently, since May 2016, he has served as
Managing Director of Toshiba Africa (Pty) Ltd., where he
greatly enjoys the challenges involved in promoting the
growth of Toshiba’s presence in Africa’s key economies.