Bamburi Cement has secured lucrative government contracts for the supply of cement for key infrastructure projects in the region as part of efforts to staying afloat in a competitive cement market that has seen its net profit drop by 80 per cent in five years.

The East African reports that Bamburi (Holcim group) has won tenders to supply cement key government infrastructure projects in Kenya, including Thwake dam, Nairobi Expressway, Dongu Kundu bypass, Lamu port, Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport Corridor and the KES160bn (US$1.46bn) Nairobi-Mau Summit Highway.

"Commitments of the governments of Kenya and Uganda towards delivery of the 'Big 4' agenda and key infrastructure projects like oil and gas respectively continue to generate positive prospects for economic recovery in the second half of 2021," said John Simba, the Bamburi Cement chairman, in the 2020 annual report.

Last year, Kenyan cement market contracted by 2.3 per cent with the national cement consumption closing at 5.79Mt compared with 5.93Mt in 2019, reports the Eat African.