STIHL laid the foundations for further growth and clearly demonstrating its commitment to the important African market. The company has opened its second subsidiary on the African continent in Kenya and celebrated the 25th anniversary of its subsidiary in South Africa.
“Africa is an important market for STIHL, and we look forward to growing with both our business and our dealer network on this continent,” said Norbert Pick, STIHL’s Executive Board Member for Marketing and Sales.
An office was set up in Kenya in 2017 with the aim of offering training and product demonstrations, especially for agricultural cooperatives. A roughly 1,000 square-metre office between the airport and the centre of Nairobi was rented and extensively renovated, and has now been officially opened. Sebastian Groth, the German ambassador to Kenya, joined the ceremony in person. The new subsidiary currently employs 16 people and supplies STIHL products to the dealer network in Kenya, as well as in Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia. An additional warehouse in Nairobi is operated by Fargo Courier, an external logistics provider.
The South African subsidiary ANDREAS STIHL Ltd. in Pietermaritzburg has celebrated its 25th anniversary following a one-year delay due to the pandemic and other causes. In June 2021, the company’s warehouse was completely destroyed and the administrative building suffered significant damage during the riots and looting in the area around the port city of Durban. STIHL immediately put together a crisis team and set up a temporary warehouse in Johannesburg, while a building in Pietermaritzburg was rented to house the offices.
STIHL established an office in Pietermaritzburg in 1996 and began expanding the company’s market presence in Africa. STIHL South Africa currently has 39 employees.