Algerian private consumer electronics manufacturer Bya Electronic says it will launch a flat LCD panel and a media center for the consumer market. The media center will be a home-based server that would interface with a personal computer to use entertainment features that include TV viewing, CD and DVD burning, Internet access and other multimedia applications. Both products are slated to be launched in early 2005.
Bya's manufacturing facilities are located in the western city of Oran and currently produce 75,000 television sets per year under the Thomson brand. The company also manufactures a wide range of electrical household appliances such as ovens, refrigerators, and washing machines. It claims the number one spot as a producer of satellite dish receivers with annual unit sales of 250,000. Sales grew by 30% in 2003 to DZD 1 billion
Bya is unit of the Universal Multimedia group, recently renamed Revox. The company, which is listed in the Paris-based Euronext, has changed its name after it acquired the American company Revox. Originally Swiss, Revox operates in some 70 countries. Revox, which generated E30 million in 2003, up from E13.5 million a year earlier, is controlled by the Ait Yala family.
Headed by the entrepreneur Kaci Ait-Yala, Bya is preparing to enter new industries outside of its core consumer electronics and household items. It is currently eyeing the possible acquisition of the state-owned chemical company Enapem as this unit is slated from privatization. This acquisition could occur through the converting of Algeria's debt owed to France into investments because the Ait Yala family holds dual French-Algerian citizenship and qualify for the scheme. Bya is also seeking to invest in tourism with the planned establishment of a resort in the western city of Mostaganem. The company has completed the feasibility study and is working on the financial aspects of the project.
© The North Africa Journal 2004
