As Rwanda experiences a water shortage caused by prolonged drought in some parts of the country, traders have increased mineral water prices by 20 percent to 3,000 from Rwf2,500 per carton, The Business Times has leant.

The addition of Rwf500 on a carton has led to Rwf100 increase on each bottle of water that is sold to the final consumer.

Francis Mugisha, Distributor of Inyange Industries Ltd products said in an interview that the current low mineral water supplies do not meet the high demand.

"Our clients are demanding for water, we can’t find water at the factory, so we agreed with retailers to add a slight amount of money,” Mugisha explained.

Inyange Industries ltd is one of the largest beverage companies in Rwanda alongside Sulfo Rwanda Industries S.A.

The price increase has also been attributed to hoarding practices by some rich people who speculated on the current short supply months ago and stocked surpluses of water. 

"There are some people who bought water in bulk when there was high supply and kept it. They are now selling it at a higher price to take advantage of the shortage,” Mugisha said.

However, manufacturers say water factory prices have remained stable.

John Bosco Kanimba, acting Managing Director of Inyange Industries said they have also not cut their production levels.

"We are experience a problem of low capacity, because during this period (dry season) our products are on high demand yet our production remains the same,” Kanimba explained.

He said that April to August is a peak period when soft drinks are on high demand because of the festive season with many functions and conferences taking place hence a need for high water supplies. 

This comes at a time Electrogaz is considering water rationing due to shortages of the resource.

The country’s national water and electricity provider says Rwanda is facing a deficit of up to 22,000 cubic metres of water every day and has no alternative until supplies are boosted.

"Starting this month, we are going to conduct rationing tests across major towns in the country to find out how to implement the programme,” Yves Muyange, Electrgaz acting Chief Executive said recently.

Kanimba said that in the next three months, Inyange industries will have solved the low capacity production problem.

The company is constructing a new water factory that will increase its output from 2,160 to 13,000 bottles per hour.

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