13 Dec 2020

Minister of Investment Trade and Industry, Ms Peggy Serame had admitted that interventions have to be made to ensure that the cement plant in Matsiloje does not close down.

Speaking during the tour of Matsiloje Portland Cement (MPC) plant on Saturday, Ms Serame said while this was a big investment, the government would make sure that it keeps running as the country was currently experiencing shortage of cement which resulted in high prices of the commodity. The minister was therefore optimistic that in the next few months  tangible interventions would have been made.

“There are few ends to be tied in order for the plant to operate effectively,” noted the minister who further advised the management to seek funding from financial institutions such as National Development Bank (NDB) and Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA).

Managing Director of MPC, Mr Rachit Josh explained that they needed funding of about P30 million to be able to produce cement that would sell at P30 per bag.

He said the company had never received government purchase order for their product, noting that  the government commitment and assurance to purchase cement from them for use in projects would boost the company’s finances.

Mr Josh appealed to Competition Authority to come up with some form of pricing control as there was disparity in pricing of cement. He said some prices were exorbitant and that there was fowl play in pricing.

The management of the plant had in the past pleaded with the government to restrict cement importation to protect local producers.

They had further argued that neighbouring countries had measures (import restrictions) in place to protect their market while Botswana did not have such. ENDS