Local cement manufacturers, Savannah Cement has significantly enhanced its supply focus to local and regional infrastructure development projects.
The strategic focus on infrastructure development projects such as roads, dams and related large ticket initiatives is geared at diversifying the firm’s revenue streams while enhancing its market share.
According to Savannah Cement Managing Director Ronald Ndegwa, the firm has been actively pursuing supply opportunities to local and regional infrastructure development projects successfully riding on the firm’s consistent product quality a hallmark of the latest technology installed by the firm.
Speaking during a customer visit to Outer Ring Road Construction Contractor Sinohydro Corporation and paving blocks manufacturer KenBro in Nairobi, Ndegwa confirmed that the firm has enhanced its corporate sales capacity in response to market demands.
Further, Savannah Cement, is undertaking preparatory works to facilitate the installation of its second grinding plant at its Kitengela manufacturing complex to boost production capacity.
The installation of the second grinding plant next year is expected to double the firm’s production capacity to 2.4million tons annually up from the current 1.2million tons.
At the Sh8.5billion Outer Ring Road expansion project, Savannah Cement is supplying up to 2,500 tons of cement every month for the dual carriage road project that is designed to ease traffic congestion in the city’s Eastlands area.
The Outer Ring road project is one of the major infrastructure projects using Savannah Cement products being the brand that meets the customer’s stringent quality requirements.
“We have the very latest technology at our Kitengela plant which means that we can guarantee quality consistency. The technology also helps us run a dust-free operation with low energy footprint which keeps our cost of production per tonne very competitive,” said Mr Ndegwa.
Sinohydro Corporation’s Chief Engineer Mr. Zhou Chong said that the Chinese firm had settled on Savannah Cement because of quality assurance.
“We have had consistent quality and efficient service delivery. This means that we can also be assured of consistent quality of our products and work because cement is a very key ingredient,” said Mr. Zhou when the Savannah Cement team toured the project.
The construction of the largest single roads project in Nairobi’s Eastlands is set to transform the densely populated area, bring down the cost of transport and attract new investors.
The Outer Ring Road project, financed by the African Development Bank and the government, is scheduled for completion by September next year, easing the traffic nightmare in Nairobi’s most populated suburbs.
“Those people who have lived in Nairobi for years will tell you that this has been a bottle neck. We have been involved from inception. Sino Hydro has been using our cement from inception and we’re happy to be an integral part of the construction that will ease congestion and create more value for property owners in the adjacent areas,” said Mr. Ndegwa.
He said that the firm was also looking forward to supplying the Naivasha leg of the Standard Gauge Railway Project.
In addition to these mega-projects, Savannah has also exclusively supplied cement to the construction of Garden City, the region’s largest mall, JKIA expansion and the University of Nairobi towers and the Karuma Dam in Uganda among others.
Savannah, which started operations in 2012, currently produces 1 million tons annually at the Athi River plant, which has an installed capacity of 1.2 million tons.
The company expects the additional capacity to be in place by mid-2018 as it joins other major cement makers in the country looking for additional capacity to satisfy rising local and regional demand.