Crown Paints, Sadolin in Rwanda market share battle
Crown Paints Kenya CEO Rakesh Rao. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA
What you need to know:
Both companies have been relying heavily on imports from Kenya to serve their customers in the region.
Crown Paints plans to set up a Sh200 million ($2.2 million) manufacturing plant in Rwanda, staging a market share battle with Kenyan rival Sadolin which is also constructing a factory in the country.
Both companies have been relying heavily on imports from Kenya to serve their customers in the region.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed Crown Paints last week announced new investments in Tanzania.
“We are seeking growth in terms of expansion and given the costs involved in the Rwanda project, this will involve both borrowing and internal cash to finance,” said the Crown Paints chief executive officer Rakesh Rao in an interview.
Kalim Y. Amijee, the Sadolin Paints Rwanda country manager, told the New Times of Rwanda that production in its new plant that will have a capacity to produce 250,000 litres of paint per month will start in March.
“Some of the paints will be exported to Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan,” reported the paper quoting Mr Amijee.
The new plant is expected to create about 60,000 jobs for Rwandans both directly and indirectly.
Crown Paints set its foot print in Rwanda in March this year and opened a distribution channel in Kigali.
“We have finished setting up our footprint, we are opening our showroom, the first in Rwanda before the year ends,” said Vipul Kapur, the marketing manager for Crown Paints Rwanda, in an interview with the Independent newspaper in Kigali.
The two companies will also be competing with Ameki Color which is also a major player in Rwanda. According to Kapur, Crown Paints will be targeting the high income clients.
“We are looking at the premium side of the market,” she said.
The booming real estate sector has increased demand for paint in the region. Mid last week, Crown Paints opened a Tanzanian paint showroom in Dar es Salaam.
Crown Paints, which has major operations in the Nairobi, Kigali, Kampala, Arusha, Mwanza and Juba also announced that Dar-es-Salaam will become the headquarters of Crown Paints Tanzania, enabling the company to expand into other provinces in the country.
