Roofings Sudan exports to fetch sh16b this year

Publication date: Wednesday, 23rd July, 2008

Kutesa (2nd left), Lalani (2nd right) and Salva Kiir (right) during the tour on Tuesday

By David Muwanga

ROOFINGS expects $10m (about sh16.3b) from exports to southern Sudan this year, the chief executive officer, Sikander Lalani, has predicted.

Lalani said the building materials manufacturer had already exported items worth $4.7m (sh7.6b) to southern Sudan in the first six months of this year.

“There is a lot of construction and reconstruction going on in southern Sudan,” he said.

Lalani attributed the increase in exports to political stability in the northern region.

“There is political stability and this is one of the major issues that affect investment. We could not transport our products for fear of the wars but they have ended. This is good for the business community in Uganda,” he told reporters at the factory in Lubowa, Entebbe.

Lalani said the company, which started in 1994 with a capital base of $2m (sh3.2b), now has capital worth $50m (sh81.5b).

“We have installed capacity to produce 110,000 metric tonnes of steel products per year. At the moment, we produce 100,000 metric tonnes. Our target is to increase capacity to about 180,000 metric tonnes per year,” he said after a tour of the factory by the southern Sudan president, Salva Kiir.

Kiir was accompanied by Uganda’s foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa, internal affairs minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, and other government officials.

“We are always fighting to have a level playing field. Some of our business counterparts were evading taxes. The Government is trying to ensure this no longer happens,” Lalani said.

“What needs to be done by the governments in the region is to improve infrastructure, which includes roads, railways and energy,” the company’s board member, Elly Rwakakoko, suggested.

This article can be found on-line at: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/640722