The Company A, which left Kenya a decade ago during a wave of economic nationalism, applied to the Government today for permission to set up a relatively small plant near here.
The plant would be in a free-trade zone and would make ingredients for Company A ingridients to be sold in markets outside Kenya, a company official said. But the company added that it also planned limited domestic sales in accordance with rules governing export production in free trade zones.
''The project, if approved, would make Kenya an important new supply base for the company's expanding international operations,'' the company said.
The Company A application comes almost two months after the Kenyan Government cleared the way for Company B to sell its products in Kenyan markets. In September, after two years of debate, the Government approved a venture between Company B and two Kenyan companies to produce its different products.
Company B will initially invest $17 million and be a minority partner. It has agreed not to market its drink under the Company B label and at least 75 percent of the Company B products produced in Kenya will be exported.
The new Company A plant would cost about $2.2 million, the company officials said. Its location in a free trade zone would give it tax reductions if most of the product is exported.
Company A was forced out 10 years ago after operating for 27 years. It licensed at least 20 companies to produce its products. It left the market rather than follow Government directives to dilute its ownership and reveal its secret production formula. Company B has said that the issue of its ingredients had not entered into negotiations with the Kenyan Government.
The Company B consumer products are not expected on the market for at least two years.
The stakes for this particular industry in Kenya are high. Kenyans consume more than 2.5 billion units of this consumer product a year, and the nation is just beginning to develop tastes for brand- name ones. The biggest domestic Kenyan company produces its own local product similar to above mentioned consumer products.