Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Tanzania. A Chinese company Keda Industrial Group is in the process of establishing an architectural glass plant in Tanzania that will cost USD86.8 million. The company is aiming at expanding the variety of such construction materials in the African market to heighten its market shares.
Strategic Partnership
The glass plant project which is expected to be completed in a year according to the Foshan-based company will be constructed by Keda Industrial in contractural cooperation with a local subsidiary or a joint venture. Annually the production capacity of 600 tons of architectural glass is anticipated.
About who will be funding the glass project, Keda Industrial revealed that the project will be funded using loans. The company is planning to obtain loans totaling USD52 million from commercial banks or other financial institutions.
Why Tanzania
Keda explained that they decided to establish this project in Tanzania after realizing that there is increased demand for building materials in the African market which is attributed to the increase in population, rapid real estate development, stable economic growth, and other factors.
Also due to the lack of glass production factories in Tanzania and neighboring countries, the Chinese company used this opportunity to consider building a glass factory. The company added that they will transport the products to their clients in Tanzania and also be exported to the neighboring countries including Uganda, Kenya, and Zambia.
A few years ago, China leapfrogged its Western peers to become the largest foreign investor in Tanzania by using Chinese to search for markets outside the world’s most populous country.
Cumulative figures for the period between 1990 and 2017 show that China is leading in Tanzania with investments worth USD 5.963 billion.
Last year in August, another Chinese company Wankang Group, revealed the plan to invest more than USD311 million in Tanzania to build an ultra-modern float glass manufacturing factory.
This project is expected to stimulate other sectors since more than 80 percent of the raw materials will come from Tanzania. It is aimed to increase foreign exchange earnings at the same time it will reduce Tanzania’s import bill on glass products and increase export to other countries.
According to some investors Tanzania is strategically placed and the country’s investment climate has greatly improved in recent years which gives it a more competitive advantage over its competitors.
About Keda Industrial in Africa
Keda Industrial Co, Ltd was established on December 8th, 1992 in Foshan China. The company deals in the building machinery and equipment industry. Keda manufactures several products including ceramic, stone, wall materials, energy, environmental protection, building materials, and many more. Keda gradually grows into a leading ceramic machinery enterprise in China and around the world.
In Africa, Keda Group entered the construction material market in 2016. It currently has more than 14 ceramic product production plants in operation. It also has eight plants that are under construction in five African countries, including Tanzania.
Keda company manufactures and markets clean coal as well as gas technology systems for consumption by energy industries such as the paper, glass, non-ferrous metal processing, chemistry, and glass industries.
Last year Keda Industrial announced that it will invest USD67.1 million to expand its ceramic products production in two African countries as the Chinese company seeks to fill the local supply gap.
According to the Keda statement, the company will also inject USD42.5 million to build a new sanitary ware plant in Kenya.
Keda also has five production lines for construction-related ceramics operating in Ghana, with a total daily production capacity of 150,000 square meters.
Also in July 2022, the Chinese company received a loan amount of USD165 million from the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector body, of which USD33.5 million was reserved for constructing a ceramic and slab factory in Mozambique.
China and Tanzania’s economic ties
From the outset of bilateral relations, China has assisted Tanzania with a variety of economic aid programs. From 2000 to 2011, there were approximately 62 Chinese official development finance projects, which range from the Chinese government’s efforts to launch the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank, to a loan of USD400 million to help alleviate the Kiwira coal mine’s financial problems.
In 2019 China and Tanzania opened a new door of communication aimed at enhancing economic and trade cooperation, especially on investment and financing.
According to the statistics from the Tanzanian investment Center, by the end of August 2012, there had been more than 300 Chinese companies investing in Tanzania’s infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, and small and Medium Enterprises development with a total registered capital of over USD1 billion.
Official data has it that the bilateral volume between Tanzania and China in 2020 was USD4.587 billion, thus registering a 9.98 percent year-on-year growth.
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