Sameer Africa has sacked 227 employees. This follows the closing of Yana factory in Nairobi.
Sameer, which is owned by billionaire Naushad Merali spent Sh. 293 million in staff redundancy costs, working out at a simple average payoff of just over Sh. 1 million per retrenched employee.
In addition to the retrenched staff, Sameer sacked 16 employees due to disciplinary issues last year, while there were 23 normal staff exits.
Sameer shut down the Nairobi plant in September last year, citing increased competition from cheaper Chinese imports.
It is now importing tyres from India and China through contract manufacturing.
“Factory closure costs totalled Sh. 877 million, comprising of Sh. 179 million in fixed asset impairment charges, Sh. 405 million in impairment charges for raw materials and engineering spares, and Sh. 293 million in staff redundancy costs.”
