Lancet plans to expand staff despite Kenya’s economic uncertainty

Dr Ahmed Kalebi Managing Director/ Group CEO of Pathologists Lancet Kenya

Regional medical laboratory service provider Lancet plans to hire more staff for its operations. This bucks the recent trend of firms in the country cutting down on employees in the face of economic uncertainty.

Speaking during Lancet’s eighth anniversary in Nairobi, Lancet Group of Lab’s Managing Director and Consultant Pathologist Dr Ahmed Kalebi indicated they have been recording double-digit growth in Kenya and the region since they started operations. He said they expect the trend to continue.

“Our staff levels have grown to more than 500 in East Africa, including 230 in Kenya while hundreds others are employed indirectly. When we started operations eight years ago in Nairobi, we had only six,” he said.

“Our growth has been good even during the election season and we foresee an increase in our staff numbers in the near future to support our growth.”

Lancet is one of the largest independent medical laboratory service providers in the region, supporting the health sector with lab diagnostic tests.

It currently has 40 branches in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Its parent company is in South Africa with presence in 14 African countries. It also provides lab testing services for water as well as livestock and pets.

“We see endless opportunities in supporting the human health, veterinary and water sectors with accurate and reliable lab tests and more staff will be needed soon,” he said without giving specific numbers.

Dr Kalebi said that Lancet was also strengthening its internship programme, in which it trains at least 40 personnel annually on various aspects of the operations. Some of the interns are absorbed.

During the celebrations, Lancet announced plans to expand to French-speaking parts of the continent in partnership with an unnamed firm. It also hinted at expanding its services to test for use of banned substances in sports.

“Our veterinary and water testing services are also recording steady growth as we seek to support those sectors with accurate and reliable services,” he said.