Mr Theophan Marube, the Nairobi business head, during the interview. PHOTO | BONFACE OTIENO
Summary
- Tamarind Translation is arguably one of the leading language agencies in the country, providing professional translation services to tens of organisations across the region.
- Tamarind’s annual turnover for the year to December stood at Sh70 million and the management says they are targeting to grow this income by 30 per cent in the next two years.
In 2006, Sweden-based Tamarind Translation conducted a market
survey in Kenya to establish need for professional translation services
in East Africa.
Findings of that research revealed that
international agencies like the United Nations, which use Nairobi as
their regional headquarters, needed such services since they communicate
in several languages.
Armed with this market research,
Mrs Britt-Marie Seex, the owner of Tamarind, decided to invest Sh5
million to set up the Kenyan subsidiary of the 28-year-old business,
hoping to replicate its success in Sweden. The business opened its doors
in December 2008.
Today, the company is arguably one
of the leading language agencies in the country, providing professional
translation services to tens of organisations across the region.
“Language
barrier is a big problem to international business and all activities
related to international development. This is the gap that we are trying
to bridge,” said Theophan Marube, the managing director of the Kenyan
arm.
Some of its clients are the World Bank, UN and the African Union.
Multinational corporations
like Google, Airtel, Nestle as well as some non-governmental
organisations such as IPPF and government ministries also turn to
Tamarind for help.
Tamarind also serves regional
economic commissions like the East African Community, Economic Community
of West African States and Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa.
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese,
Spanish, Swahili and Swedish make the list of languages it uses to
serve. They translate for legal, medical or technical fields.
The
firm was instrumental in helping the National Council for Law Reporting
to develop guidelines on how legal documents should be translated.
Tamarind
has seven permanent and a similar number of workers on a part-time
basis. Two of the permanent staff have been with the firm since
inception.
Tamarind, however, bolsters its capacity by
being a member of global network which has more than 1,000 translators
from whom they draw assistance.
Interpretation
services during conferences, business meetings as well as during court
hearings also part of its business. Tamarind also sells translation
technology.
“With a team of translators, reviewers and
terminologists, we have not only translated text, but also localised the
content for the benefit of humanitarian workers in the region who work
as responders during emergencies,” Mr Marube said.
Tamarind’s
annual turnover for the year to December stood at Sh70 million and the
management says they are targeting to grow this income by 30 per cent in
the next two years.
Expanding into other markets such as Zimbabwe and Malawi and Angola are in the pipeline.
It
operates in East Africa, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana,
Sudan, South Africa, Somalia, Swaziland and Seychelles.
In Kenya, the skill is creating a new crop of entrepreneurs.
In Kenya, the skill is creating a new crop of entrepreneurs.
No comments :
Post a Comment