Kuwait-based construction firm, DAO group, has set up a new cement factory in the Budaka district of eastern Uganda
The factory will be expected to produce 750 mt of cement per day initially and increase production to 2,500 mt in the medium term and 5,000 mt in the long term. The factory will also produce clinker locally, a move that will see improvement in the pricing of cement.
DAO Africa finance and administration manager Hussein Jingo said the total investment in the factory was close to US$150mn.
Mohamad Aoun, head of DAO Group, said US$10mn would be spent on the purchase of limestone initially.
“The reason we decided to invest in Uganda is because we discovered that the potential for cement is plenty and we would cooperate with the existing cement producers and add value to strengthen the economy,” commented Aoun.
According to DAO, the cement factory will offer 10,000 jobs to the youth in the area.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, who commissioned the new factory, lauded the investors for putting their trust in Uganda and highlighted the role the cement industry had played in transforming the economy in the areas where they were located.
“Cement factories have helped us reduce poverty in areas like Kasese and Tororo,” Museveni remarked.
