PPC - June 2019

PPC, the majority shareholder in Cimerwa cement, is considering buying the Rwandan government’s stake in the company. PPC has held a 51 per cent share in Cimerwa since 2012. The Rwandan government has a 16.54 per cent share, held through Agaciro Development Fund, Rwanda’s sovereign wealth fund. Other shareholders include the Rwanda Social Security Board (20.24 per cent), Rwanda Investment Group (11.45 per cent) and Sonarwa Group (0.76 per cent). 

The government has set the deadline of 5 July for any interested investors to bid for its stake. According to press reports, the other shareholders are also keen to offload their stakes, putting 49 per cent of the company up for grabs in total. The government’s withdrawal from the company is being blamed on Cimerwa’s failure to meet the country’s domestic demand for cement. Despite being the largest producer in Rwanda, last year the company produced 364,864t of cement from an installed production capacity of 0.6Mta. The remaining demand is imported although a new plant is currently being built in Musanze district by local firm Prime Cement.

Cement demand in Rwanda has risen from around 490,000t in 2013 to more than 640,000t by 2018. This is expected to continue to grow on the back of a number of mega infrastructure projects and extensive real estate construction.