Japan's Daikin says it will assemble air conditioners in Nigeria as it renews Africa expansion

Daikin Industries

29/09/2022 23:00

TOKYO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Daikin Industries  6367.T 
will begin assembling air conditioners in Nigeria as the
Japanese company renews a push into Africa that had been delayed
by the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the company's India
business said on Thursday.
     "We are very soon going to have a factory in Nigeria,"
Kanwal Jeet Jawa, the head of Daikin's operations in India and
East Africa, told Reuters.
    Rather than building a plant, Daikin is using space in a
facility provided by a local distributor, he said.
    Daikin is aiming to become the leading seller of air
conditioners, chillers and other cooling equipment in East
Africa nations including Tanzania and Kenya by 2025. 
    Jawa said the company is looking to replicate its success in
India, where it has beaten the likes of South Korea's LG
Electronics  066570.KS  to take top market share amid a rapid
market expansion that is being driven by the country's economic
growth.
    Daikin's production capacity in India is set to almost
double in 2023 with the opening of a new factory, allowing it to
ship equipment to Africa that is more affordable and better
suited to local conditions than air conditioners the Japanese
company makes elsewhere, Jawa said.
 (Reporting by Tim Kelly and Mayu Sakoda; Editing by Kim
Coghill)
 ((tim.kelly@thomsonreuters.com; +813-6441-1311;))