Twiga Cement announced at its Annual General Meeting held in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the dividend had risen from TZS267 (US$0.12) in 2014 to TZS306 in 2015. This increase is a result of profits going up to TZS56.2bn despite depreciation of the shilling, which had an impact on both fuel and quarry services.

Alfonso Rodriguez, Twiga Cement managing director, said that the company saw 2015 as a year for consolidation, with particular focus on cost reduction and management control.

Mr Rodriguez said Twiga plans to expand its services to other countries both inside and outside east Africa following the remarkable successes achieved in serving Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo. For Twiga this is a way forward to relieve pressure and dependency from the domestic market and increase profits through exports in the coming years.

Last year the company aimed to produce 1.5Mt of cement, up from 1.4Mt produced in 2014, following the commissioning of a new 700,000t production line. Twiga also reported an increase of 21.6 per cent in sales volume, resulting in an 18 per cent boost on the company’s net revenue.