US Audience Firm Opens Offices in Nairobi

The American company Starkey Hearing Technologies has opened offices in Nairobi to serve as a hub of the continent.

The first offices of the multinational company based in Minnesota, Africa, will house a comprehensive hearing care center with a 3D ear molds laboratory for the production of personalized hearing aids. The new facility opened up career opportunities for staff in the areas of audiology, marketing, customer service, sales and laboratories.

The company is now planning to do business with county governments and hospitals to take advantage of the growing demand for hearing aids. The company's launch comes at a time when hearing loss has increased over the past two decades. Data from Kenya National Special Needs Education (KNSE) now show that one in ten people suffer from this problem.

"Kenya is the ideal place because of its superior infrastructure, facilities and medical services. This will enable us to help people all over Africa who are suffering from hearing loss to better hear and live better, "said Giscard Bechara, Regional Director for the Middle East and Africa. Africa at Starkey Hearing Technologies.

"Plans are underway to open branches in other African countries but Nairobi will remain the hub of Africa," said Bechara.

The company has been working in the hearing care industry for over 50 years.

It operates 24 facilities and provides services in more than 100 countries around the world. It currently employs around 5,000 people.

Twenty or so years ago, it was estimated that hearing problems affected between 5 and 8 Kenyans out of 100, or less than one in 10, but the current data show that the number of people attacks has increased over time. Data compiled by KSNE show that Kenyans have more hearing loss than the global average of five out of 100 hearing impaired people, according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics.