The DRC government has availed 500 million US Dollars in order to relaunch operations at the Maiko Cement Factory (CIMAIKO) formerly known as the Cement Factory of the Province Orientale (CIPOR).
The President of the CIMAIKO Operationalisation Committee and Lead Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister, Beaujolais Bofoya Komba, indicated that the Congolese government concluded a partnership agreement with a Satarem Ltd., a multinational construction company specialising in cement industry in order to refurbish CIMAIKO.
Under the agreement, the multinational will be contributing 250 million US Dollars to the project.
An initial team from Satarem is expected to arrive in Kisangani to prepare the new site of CIMAIKO factory, located about 75 kilometres South-East of Kisangani. The construction of the factory is expected to begin towards the end of 2016.
The DRC has been experiencing shortages of cement in the recent years, causing the price of the construction commodity to soar and prompting massive importations from neighbouring countries.