Corporate News
By SIMON CIURI
In Summary
- Both companies have been relying heavily on imports from Kenya to serve their customers in the region.
Crown Paints
plans to set up a Sh200 million ($2.2 million) manufacturing plant in
Rwanda, staging a market share battle with Kenyan rival Sadolin which is
also constructing a factory in the country.
Both companies have been relying heavily on imports from Kenya to serve their customers in the region.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed Crown Paints last week announced new investments in Tanzania.
“We are seeking growth in terms of expansion and
given the costs involved in the Rwanda project, this will involve both
borrowing and internal cash to finance,” said the Crown Paints chief
executive officer Rakesh Rao in an interview.
Kalim Y. Amijee, the Sadolin Paints Rwanda country manager, told the New Times
of Rwanda that production in its new plant that will have a capacity to
produce 250,000 litres of paint per month will start in March.
“Some of the paints will be exported to Burundi,
the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan,” reported the paper
quoting Mr Amijee.
The new plant is expected to create about 60,000 jobs for Rwandans both directly and indirectly.
Crown Paints set its foot print in Rwanda in March this year and opened a distribution channel in Kigali.
“We have finished setting up our footprint, we are
opening our showroom, the first in Rwanda before the year ends,” said
Vipul Kapur, the marketing manager for Crown Paints Rwanda, in an
interview with the Independent newspaper in Kigali.
The two companies will also be competing with Ameki
Color which is also a major player in Rwanda. According to Kapur, Crown
Paints will be targeting the high income clients.
“We are looking at the premium side of the market,” she said.
The booming real estate sector has increased demand
for paint in the region. Mid last week, Crown Paints opened a Tanzanian
paint showroom in Dar es Salaam.
Crown Paints, which has major operations in the
Nairobi, Kigali, Kampala, Arusha, Mwanza and Juba also announced that
Dar-es-Salaam will become the headquarters of Crown Paints Tanzania,
enabling the company to expand into other provinces in the country.
The firm has also announced plans to build a Sh701 million factory in Ethiopia next year.
The Ethiopian plant will have a production capacity of one million litres of paint per month and will be funded through debt.
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