Construction of the US $29m tile manufacturing plant in Nyanza district, Rwanda has begun. The plant which is expected to makes tiles from clay, will he first of its kind in the country.
According to Erasme Ntazinda, the Mayor of Nyanza District, construction is expected to be complete in the next 18-months. “The district has a minority stake in the investment equivalent to 1.5% in the project,” he said. He however insisted that the project is a milestone that will boost the district development and uplift the rural economy.
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Economical and social benefits of the project
The investment will directly employ over 100 people and create business opportunities for the residents. Residents must have to invest in services that will be needed by the workers at the construction site and the traffic that will flock the district dealing in the produced tiles,” he said. About 400 people are also to be indirectly employed as hundreds of casual workers are needed.
The mayor added that the plant will manufacture 9,000 square metres of floor-tiles per day in its first phase of operation, 18,000 square metres in the second phase and 36,000 square metres in the third phase meaning within three years. Subsequent phases will focus on other ceramic products on demand.
Clay which is the main raw material for the tile plant in Rwanda, is widely available in the district and surrounding districts. “We are assured of the availability of the raw material,” said the mayor.
The project followed an agreement signed between Nyanza District and Africeramics – the subsidiary of Milbridge Holdings – which has diversified investment interests in construction.
