The turnaround of textiles maker Rivatex East Africa is in full throttle with President Uhuru Kenyatta expected to open a new production unit soon.
The Eldoret-based cotton mill has roared back to life three years after the Treasury and the Indian government equitably injected Sh6 billion into the plant. The money was used to buy modern machinery.
The once giant factory collapsed two decades ago due to mismanagement and corruption. It was then a fully state-owned company. It was acquired by Moi University four years ago.
It employs 600 people with a target of 3,000 when the revival is completed.
“We are on track with all the modernisation plans and the opening of a new production line is yet another milestone that puts the company in a unique position to contribute to the growth of the economy in the North Rift and the entire country,” managing director Thomas Kipkurgat said.
It expects to increase the consumption of cotton from 10,000 bales per day to 100,000 bales. By then it will be producing 40,000 metres of textiles per day compared to the current 5,000 metres.
“The modernisation will help us to enhance efficiency and quality,” said Professor Kipkurgat.
Already Rivatex has won contracts to produce materials for police uniforms and government agencies like Kenya Power, the Geothermal Development Company, hospitals as well as gowns for public and private universities.
The company is also eyeing the Agoa (African Growth and Opportunity Act) market through the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) as well as regional markets.
With manufacturing a key pillar in President Kenyatta’s Big Four Agenda, the government intends to invest another Sh1.2 billion in the company this year.
“We are very proud of the achievements so far seen at Rivatex. As a county we are the first line beneficiaries with our youth expected to get jobs as the firm expands,” Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago said recently.
The company has reached contractual agreements with the farmers and ginneries to boost the production. Some 40,000 cotton growers in 22 counties are expected to benefit from the company. Already it has signed MoU’s with farmers in Elgeyo Marakwet to increase cotton production.
“We need adequate raw materials, mainly cotton, for the company to maximise its production and that is why we are engaging farmers as partners in the growth of the company,” Kurgat said.
Rivatex buys seed cotton at between Sh47 and Sh50 per kilogramme, giving farmers a promising market for their produce.
It has been providing free cotton seeds and free pesticides to cotton growers who abandoned the crop after the collapse of the textile industry.
More than 20,717 hectares are under the crop and a target of more than 100,000 hectares in the shortest time possible.
Moi University Vice-Chancellor Isaac Kosgey says the revival has boosted the training of students in textile technology. The students get first-hand skills at the company.
“We are proud of the move we took as a university to invest in the revival of Rivatex,” Kosgey said.
The VC says the university fully supports President Kenyatta’s Big Four Agenda and will enhance research on manufacturing, healthcare and other key sectors of the economy.
