Kenya: Investors behind the US$148m plant in the Pokot region of Kenya have pledged to go ahead with construction, which has failed to take off 14 months after the ground-breaking ceremony. Directors have blamed the delay on various studies required before the investment.
“The Chinese contractors will be on the site soon,” said project director Rajeshkumar Rawal. “A general manager is already on the ground.” He rebuked industry talk that Indian plant builders Sanghi Cement had approached a local cement industry player insisting that local investors still held 26% of the stake with the Indian group taking the balance. Mr Rawal, a shareholder in the project, was in the thick of the battle to secure rights and licences for the project but he could not give a specific time frame promising more details in late August 2011 when Sanghi chiefs visit Kenya.
Some industry players have doubted the viability of setting up a factory in the remote area with poor infrastructure despite its proximity to the South Sudan which has strong potential for cement consumption.