Inyange to take over Savannah

The government is about to sell Savannah Dairy processing plant to Inyange Industries. The Minister of Commerce, François Kanimba, confirmed the development saying that it’s aimed at making the plant more productive. 

Thursday, January 26, 2012
Workers in the milk department at Inyange Industries. The plant has taken over the Nyagatare-based Savannah Milk Plant. The New Times / File

The government is about to sell Savannah Dairy processing plant to Inyange Industries.

The Minister of Commerce, François Kanimba, confirmed the development saying that it’s aimed at making the plant more productive.  

"It’s the government policy to privatize firms that do not meet the required output, and there is a need to have a business which can control the whole process, from the milk collection centres to the market. It is in this regard that the government and other stakeholders decided to sell Savannah processing plant to Inyange,” he explained.

He added that the decision follows Savannah’s assessment where it was found that the plant had a lot of managerial and financial challenges which could not enable it to continue operating efficiently and effectively.

According to Kanimba, selling Savannah to Inyange will solve the problem of lack of enough market for milk in Nyagatare District.

"Our Ministry has a mandate to find a market for milk products, and this arrangement is one of the strategies aimed at addressing lack of enough market for milk in the country” Kanimba said.

 

He revealed that negotiations are still ongoing.

In an interview with The New Times, Nick Barigye, The Finance and Administrative Manager of Inyange Industries, said they want to increase its capacity in terms of holding, cooling and processing. 

"Savannah Dairy processing plant currently processes 10,000 litres of milk a day and if we take it over our target is to scale it up to a minimum of 30,000 litres” Barigye said.

He added that Inyange Industries has enough resources to manage the plant in a more productive and useful manner, adding that they had already finished purchasing new machines which will be installed at the plant.

steven.mugisha@newtimes.co.rw