Increasing cement demand in East Africa, fuelled by greater construction investment in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, is increasing equipment supply to the region ? especially from Germany and China.
Cement demand in East Africa is set to grow so expansion of current manufacturing capacity is likely. This could result in a major boost for foreign suppliers of cement making equipment and machinery.
East Africa’s installed cement capacity is currently estimated at 15.6 million tonnes (MT), with 8.6 MT of that figure produced in Kenya. Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda have 4.9, 1.95 and 0.15 MT of cement capacity respectively.
The region’s clinker capacity is also estimated to be 5.98 MT, including Kenya’s 3.18 MT. Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda have an estimated 1.87, 0.86 and 0.07 MT of clinker capacity respectively.
Despite the headwinds facing countries that are dependent on commodity exports, investors remain bullish over African cement markets.