Roofings Uganda to provide 2500 jobs with USD64Million Bank Loan

29-March-2012

Uganda to get 2500 jobs at the completion of the new factory of Roofing at Namanve industrial park in Mukono district.

The Chairman of Roofing group Sikander Lalani disclosed this during the visit of the Chief Executive Standard Bank Africa Chris Newton at the new site in Namanve recently We are now in the last stage of phase three of the project where we shall process all the scraps in our country into construction materials, Lalani informed Newton while touring at Namanve.

“The second phase makes steel rolling mills and the third phase will make cold rolling mills. The phase three work is complete 50 percent”. Said Lalani. Roofing group signed a $64m (sh148b) syndicated loan with six financial institutions to finance its hot-and-cold rolling mill plant at the Namanve Industrial Park. At the tour of the plant, Newton said that this clearly depicted what can be done to develop Uganda than importing materials if we had more of such investors. He added that he was impressed by the work so far done.

The loan, is payable in seven years, will be serviced at 5.25% interest rate. Lalani, the Roofings Group chairman, said the entire three phase project is to cost $1OOm. Phase one is already making galvanised wires.So have when the Namanve planted is completed they will have invested 180 million dollars.

He further noted that they will produce up to 350 tonnes annually of metal works from the new factory and that of Lubowa in Wakiso district. Only 45 percent will be for export to the neighboring countries and the rest would be utlised in Uganda .When completed, the plant will be the largest in the region with scrap collected in Congo and Sudan. The factory is of high technology that environment will not be polluted to danger the health of the people.

According to the Uganda Infrastructure Report, construction industry grew by 12.92% in 2010 to reach a value of (US$2.74bn).Double digit growth is anticipated every year over our forecast period, with construction industry value to reach (US$6.66bn) by 2014.

This makes Roofing to be a key player in the construction industry for Uganda to achieve this goal. On the local market, a cost of those buying scrap, buy it at sh. 800 per kilogram. This is a good income to those who do not have permanent jobs by gathering scrap. The Managing Director of Stanbic Bank Philip Odera, said this loan, is the second of its kind in the country after the $100m signed by MTN in 2010, and demonstrates the sophistication that is beginning to take place in the financial market.

On the bank Interest rates, he said that the will continue to go down according to the markers to allow their clients to afford to expand on their products.

By Wilfred Sanya: The New Vison Newspaper