PPC To Set Up Plant In Botswana

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Monday March 1, 2010 00:00

PPC Cement Botswana General Manager Werner De Beer said this at the launch of the competition 'Botswana's number one builder' at the Cresta lodge in Gaborone last week. According to De Beer, the company is exploring cement grade limestone in the country and if they are satisfied with the deposit of the limestone, they will establish a cement manufacturing plant locally. The company currently has eight manufacturing plants and three milling depots in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Botswana is the second largest consumer of cement in the region after South Africa and according to De Beer, they have always been committed to supplying cement to the ever-growing local construction industry. He said they made a commitment with the then Minister of Works and Transport Frank Ramsden that they would supply Botswana with cement and they will honour their commitment to serve the country. De Beer said the past few years have been difficult for most Southern African countries as the demand for cement increased sharply in South Africa due to the upcoming soccer world cup in that country, but Botswana never experienced any difficulties because of the commitment they made. ' As demand grew sharply in South Africa, other importers were awarded quartets of the amount they wanted, but that was never the case with Botswana,' he said.

With other construction projects coming up under the National Development plan 10 (NDP 10), De Beer said they are not worried that local demand will outplay the supply in the future. He said with most construction for the world cup in South Africa completed, demand is expected to slow down there and that will ease the worry in other cement importing countries in the region, including Botswana. He added that they can rely on their Zimbabwe and South African plants to supply enough cement to complement the regional need at any time.

Earlier on, De Beer launched the competition 'Botswana's number one builder,' where they will be rewarding construction companies that show commitment for delivering top quality buildings in the country efficiently and effectively using PPC cement. He said the promotion aims at building good business practices among local construction companies and its objectives are to reward the hard work Botswana builders have done over the years with an industry-recognized certificate.

Various prizes will be awarded to deserving companies in their respective categories voted by the public through text messages and the public also stand a chance to win instant prizes upon voting. The competition runs from March to December this year and full details will start rolling out in the local media as soon as possible.