Public company Sinoma International Engineering Co. that engages in engineering, equipment manufacture and supply, in China and internationally has been given a green light to kick start its work in May in constructing a $1 billion cement manufacturing factory in Tanzania.
According to the East African country’s prime minister’s office, the cement factory to be built on the Tanzanian coastal town of Tanga will primarily target export markets in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda and Sudan.
“About 70 per cent of the cement output will be exported, with the remaining 30 per cent to be sold in the domestic market,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
“The company will also build a wharf (at the Tanga port) to facilitate export of cement from the plant.”
The statement did not give details of the estimated capacity of the proposed factory.
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa held talks with the president of China National Building Materials Group Corp (CNBM), the Asian country’s biggest construction materials producer, to discuss the project.
Tanzania produces around 7 million tonnes of cement a year, with demand seen growing at close to 10 per cent per annum, according to government estimates.
Cement consumption is viewed as a gauge of construction activity, one of the main drivers of economic growth in the country.
