Cimerwa is seeing a sharp rise in cement prices in Rwanda, following a cement shortage that has been driven by the Ministry of Education's programme for 20,000 classrooms to be built before September in the country.

Cement prices have climbed from RWF8500 (US$8.92) to RWF13,000 (US$13.64) in recent days. Cimerwa's retail prices for cement are lower at RWF8800 for Surewall, RWF9800 for Surecem and RWF10,800 for Surebuild. The company expressed displeasure at traders selling cement at higher prices in places like Kigali.

"We realised that some traders are increasing prices as they please during this cement shortage but we don’t want the public to buy at a price that is higher than our standard price" said a Cimerwa official.

COVID-19 testing of truck drivers on the borders is also slowing the imports of cement. The situation may be eased when Prime Cement Ltd comes on-stream in August.