Crown Paints, a Kenyan paint maker, will set up a paint factory in Rwanda within the next three years, Rakesh Rao, the group chief executive officer, has said. The firm set up shop in Rwanda six months ago. The firm has so far invested $1 million (Rwf715 million) in Rwanda.

Rao said the company mostly focuses on construction projects, which has seen them ship an average of 60,000 to 70,000 litres of paint per month.

Rwanda’s paint consumption is estimated at 300,000 litres monthly.

"We want to increase our imports to 100,000 litres per month and invest around $3 million (Rwf2.14 billion) to put up a paint factory in the country,” he said in Kigali on sidelines of dinner of the firm’s clients and other sector sectorholders over the weekend in Kigali.

Construction is one of the fastest growing sectors in the country, meaning it is lucrative for paint makers like Crown Paints to have big presence in Rwanda.

Crown Paints will have to fight for market share with Rwandan paint-maker, Ameki Color, and importers, like Sadolin Paints.

In October last year, Sadolin announced it would build a factory in the Kigali Special Economic Zone this year, with the capacity to produce up to 250,000 litres of paint per month, thus reducing Rwanda’s import bill.

Crown Paint, which commands 60 per cent of the Kenyan paint market and 35 per cent in the region, will be able to produce for export to countries like Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo once the factory is set up in Rwanda, Rao said.