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A Tanzanian investor is preparing a Sh25.8 billion ($201.7 million) capital injection into East Africa Portland Cement, betting that a major plant upgrade can turn around one of Kenya’s oldest cement makers and lift production nearly fourfold within three years.
Kalahari Cement, a subsidiary of Amsons Group, holds a controlling 69 per cent stake in East Africa Portland Cement and says the fresh funding will support both financing and equipment modernisation to raise capacity to almost 4 million tonnes a year from about 1.3 million tonnes currently.
Amsons Group managing director Edha Nahdi said preparations were at an advanced stage after a familiarisation tour of the company’s plant in Kajiado. He said the first phase of the program would include a new, energy efficient grinding and clinkerisation plant, part of a broader plan to modernise manufacturing infrastructure and reset the business.
Nahdi said the investor has already commissioned a global engineering, procurement and construction contractor to provide a turnkey design for the clinkerisation plant, an early step meant to shorten the path from planning to delivery.
The proposed upgrade is also being sold internally as a confidence boost after years of uncertainty at the company. Staff at the cement maker have welcomed the equity acquisition and the turnaround blueprint, saying it should clear the operating and investment doubts that have weighed on growth.
Amsons is framing the investment as aligned with Kenya’s industrial push, arguing that an expanded supply of cement and concrete will be necessary if the country is to deliver large infrastructure and housing targets. Nahdi said the group had pledged a revival and modernisation plan last year and now says it has secured more than $200 million for the initial phase.
The move also reshuffles a crowded market in which scale and clinker capacity are becoming more decisive. The investment, if executed as planned, would see East Africa Portland Cement overtake Bamburi Cement, another major player that Amsons Group bought out in December 2024, to become a market leader by output.
Bamburi currently has the largest market share in Kenya at 32.6 per cent and produces about 1.8 million tonnes of cement a year. It recently commissioned a Sh32 billion ($250.2 million) clinker manufacturing plant in Matuga, Kwale County, which is expected to lift capacity to 3.4 million tonnes.
Mombasa Cement ranks second by share at 15.8 per cent, followed by East Africa Portland Cement and Savannah Cement at 15.1 per cent and 15 per cent respectively, highlighting how tight the race is once you move beyond the top player.
Industry data points to a market that is growing fast enough to attract new money. Kenya’s national statistics agency reported cement production of 9.5 million metric tonnes in the first 11 months of 2025, up from 8.1 million in the same period a year earlier, while consumption rose to 9.3 million from 7.8 million.
