Kenya’s cement consumption growth fell to 5.3 per cent in Q3 of 2016, according to figures from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. This is a fall from the 11 per cent consumption growth experienced in Q3 of 2015. The cement sector slowdown comes on the back of a contraction in construction sector growth, which grew by 9.3 per cent in 3Q16 from 15.6 per cent in 3Q15. According to the statistics bureau, this was ‘partly on account of a considerable reduction in civil works of the standard gauge railway from Mombasa to Nairobi.’
The Mombasa-to-Nairobi line is the biggest infrastructure project in Kenya since independence, according to railway-technology.com, a news website covering the rail industry. The 609 km line will reduce travel time between the two cities from more than 10 hours to less than four.