Roofings Ltd, one of East Africa’s largest maker of steel products for the building industry has said that it will soon construct a steel plant in Rwanda to tap into the boom in  country’s construction sector, which is projected grow by 8.7 percent this fiscal year.

"We are soon starting downstream production in Rwanda because we believe there is a friendly environment for investment,” Sikander Lalani, the company’s Managing Director said yesterday. 

The move will boost Rwanda’s construction industry, which is solely dependent on the importation of steel products.

He said all arrangements had been effected with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) to pave the way for the entry of the region’s single largest manufacturer of both electro-welded tubes and wire products.

"There is a lot of integrity and order in Rwanda and we value this so much.”
Last week the company opened a USD$10 million new product line-tube mill in Kampala, which Lalani said will cater for the increasing demand for tubes in round square and rectangular profiles of up to 24,000 meters for the thicker tubes and 60,000 metres for plates per annum.

Roofing’s exports have grown from USD$ 300,000 in 1997 to USD$52 million in 2008 while general investment increased from USD$ 2 million in 1995 to USD$ 55 million in 2008.

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