Bloomberg is reporting that three companies plan to invest as much as 20 trillion shillings (US$9.2 billion) in Tanzanian cement production in projects that could double the nation’s installed capacity.
The government of East Africa’s second-biggest economy, with gross domestic product of US$45 billion, has infrastructure projects planned, including the US$10 billion Bagamoyo port development, a US$7-billion railway and a US$4-billion crude oil pipeline from neighbouring Uganda that will require cement.
Units of HeidelbergCement AG of Germany, Jona, Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim Ltd and Afrisam Investment Holdings Ltd. of South Africa already operate in the country and have installed annual capacity of 10.3 million t. Production in Tanzania is about 7.1 million tpy, while local consumption is 4.1 million t. The surplus is exported to neighbouring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.