Burundi: Burundi Cement Company (BUCECO) doubled its production and profits in its first two years of operations and is expected to reach capacity later in 2013, according to its founder and owner Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa.
Burundi's first and only cement producer, which employs 80 people, began production in January 2011. It produced 70,500t of cement in 2012 compared to 34,500t in 2011. It made a profit of US$22m in 2012 compared to US$10m in 2011.
"Clearly, this country has great demand for high-quality, affordable cement and we are delighted that BUCECO can help meet the need," said Ayabatwa.
BUCECO's cement plant has a production capacity of 100,000t/yr and the producer has plans to double its capacity. Before BUCECO was operational, Burundi imported all of its cement from other East African countries including Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.