Double-digit growth in Kenyan demand and output

Kenya’s National Bureau of Statistics Data shows cement production stood at 5.88Mt in 2014, up 16.27 per cent from the 5.05Mt recorded a year earlier. Cement consumption in 2014 stood at 5.19Mt from 4.26Mt in 2013, rising by 22 per cent YoY.

East African Portland Cement Co managing director, Kephar Tande, said the growth in demand of cement will continue due to the ongoing infrastructural projects. “Infrastructural projects have played a big part in the growth in demand of cement and will continue to do so. Private developers for housing and commercial buildings also played a big part," he told The Star (Kenya) in an emailed interview.

The government has major infrastructure projects underway, especially in transport and energy – eg the SGR railway from Mombasa to Uganda and Ethiopia, the Lamu-Sudan-Ethiopia (LAPSET) corridor, countrywide road upgrades, geothermal power plants, irrigation projects and new oil pipelines.

 As with all other sub-Saharan Africa  countries, the main economic  growth driver in Kenya continues to be the infrastructure gap. The potential demand for residential housing as urbanisation increases is another factor.