De La Rue invests Ksh30 million in staff to boost operations

NAIROBI, KENYA, MAR 1— De La Rue has invested Ksh30 million in its staff in a three-year programme aimed at boosting the management, health and safety skills at its Kenyan operations.

Eight of its 300 staff recently passed the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) under the programme, with three achieving distinctions.

NEBOSH is offered by a UK-based examination board, but vocational qualifications in health and safety practice and management are recognised world-wide, including in Kenya.

The eight staff who got three distinctions and five passes brings the total number of NEBOSH qualified personnel at De La Rue to 11.

With this achievement, Kenya becomes only the second manufacturing site across De La Rue’s global footprint to fulfil the requirement on the number of people that must be NEBOSH qualified.

It also underpins the firm’s commitment to health and safety at the site, which has a proud record of almost four years without a reportable accident.

The benefits of the skills of the Kenyan staff have also been recognised across De La Rue’s global footprint, the firm said on Thursday, with key members of staff travelling to other sites across the world to support their delivery challenges and share their expertise.

This includes a team of print specialists spending three weeks in Malta, supporting the operation and sharing best practice within its operational excellence framework.

Most recently, a key member of the Kenyan management team has been seconded to manage De La Rue’s plant in Sri Lanka, an opportunity to share skills and experience learnt in Kenya.

“This long term investment in skills has helped create an outstanding operation in Kenya, delivering to the highest global standards.  After 25 years in operation, the site is set for a strong future,” De La Rue marketing director Robin Mackenzie said in a statement.

As a centre of excellence, the Kenyan site employs 300 locals and contributes Ksh1.25 billion to the local economy every year.

De La Rue has produced currency and identity management and product authentication solutions for Kenya for the last 25 years.

It recently invested  Ksh286 million as part of a Ksh1.4 billion long term investment  to upgrade its infrastructure at the Nairobi site, as it seeks to remain a regional hub for East Africa and the wider continent and a Global Centre of Excellence for De La Rue.

 It is  the world’s largest designer and commercial printer of banknotes and passports, delivering national and international identity tokens and software solutions for governments in a world that is increasingly focused on the importance of a legal and secure identity for every individual.