A Chinese company is reported to be interested in relaunching the CIMAIKO cement plant near Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A delegation consisting of Justine Mbombo, advisor to the Ministry of Industry, and the production manager of Yang Engow Engineering of China is prospecting the local area for limestone suitable for cement production.

Yang Engow Engineering intends to start the installation of the plant as soon as possible, with January 2020 as a tentative date, according to Radio Okapi.

It is not the first time interested parties have visited the site with plans to relaunch the cement project. In 2008 some 1600t of equipment from India was delivered to the site but construction did not proceed. In 2016 the government released US$250m to restart the project and renamed it CIMAIKO in partnership with Satarem Ltd, expecting to see works start before the end of the year.