Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente on Wednesday, July 24, officially inaugurated Rwanda’s first milk powder factory in Nyagatare District.
The over $45 million facility, earlier designed to process 650,000 liters per day, focuses on producing skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder, ghee, butter, and UHT products.
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The operations of the plant owned by Inyange Industries, Rwanda’s largest agro-processing firm, at an estimated investment of over $45 million, were initially set to kick off in 2023.
The plant can process over 500,000 litres of milk in liquid form into over 50,000 kilos (50 tonnes) of milk powder daily. With that, its annual capacity will be around 15,000 tonnes of milk powder.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, the marketing plan includes securing an off-take contract from Africa Improved Foods (AIF) – a local major food manufacturer – for 2,000 tonnes annually.
As noted, more than 80 per cent would be exported to neighbouring countries in the East African Community (EAC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the Middle East, where there is more demand than supply can meet.
"This factory has a very huge impact. First, it will increase Inyange’s processing capacity to almost a million litres a day. That means almost Rwf9 billion that will be going to farmers per month, as the minimum price to a farmer is Rwf300 a litre,” Inyange Industries Ltd Managing Director, James Biseruka, told The New Times in 2023.