TORORO: President Museveni on Tuesday commissioned the new Simba cement factory in Tororo District and said his government is committed to industrialising the whole country.
The President said that the country’s industrialisation agenda will be boosted by the many roads that are being constructed all over the country.
“Uganda is one of the richest countries in the world blessed with numerous natural resources, which cannot be exhausted with the shortest period of time,” he said.
“You need roads, we are working on them including Standard Gauge Railway line,” he added.
The President also assured investors and the business community that the high power tariffs will soon go down.
“The electricity costs, you don’t have to worry about that because we expect electricity costs to go down after completion of the many dams we are constructing,” Mr Museveni, said.
The new cement plant owned by the National cement Company Uganda Limited is expected to double the company’s production capacity to 1.5 million metric tonnes from the current 750 metric tonnes annually.
Mr Narendra Raval, the chairman of Simba Cement Company, said the increase in production will save Uganda’s foreign exchange spent on importing cement from Kenya, China and the Middle East.
“This will help the country to earn extra revenue from cement exports to emerging markets in the great lakes region,” he said.
He added Simba cement prices will reduce to as low as 25,000 shillings compared to the recent past in which a bag of cement was costing over 40,000 shillings.
“The company’s objective is not after making profits but ensuring the availability of quality and cheap cement to allow all Uganda access building materials at a cheaper price,” he said.
He added,” Despite all the challenges that the industry will face ranging from high electricity and transport costs that would make its final product more expensive, we are dedicated to stick to our price of 25,000 per a bag of 25 kilogrammes,’’ he said.
