Rising cement consumption signals growth in East Africa

East Africa is one of the world’s fastest-growing marketplaces for construction opportunities and building materials.
Significant projects are under construction across East Africa, including Ethiopia’s $4 billion hydro-power dam on the Blue Nile River and Kenya’s Sh195 billion ($13 billion) railway that will link the Port of Mombasa to the Rwandan capital of Kigali via Uganda.

Workers prepare concrete for construction. Growing demand for cement is expected to drive East Africa’s economic growth [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].

In Rwanda, CIMERWA, the only cement company in Rwanda that mines raw materials, produces clinker concentrate, and packs and sells cement for general and civil construction, has spent Sh17.85 billion ($170 million) on a new modern dry process production plant with a capacity to turn out 600,000 tonnes of cement per year.