EA Granites launches operations in Uganda

Neighbouring ugandans will now fully enjoy the benefits of Rwandan granite following the launch of East African Granite Industries in Kampala at the weekend.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Amb. Mugambage (C) at the launch of EAGI in Kampala at the weekend. Top is granite mining in Nyagatare district. The New Times/ Gashegu Muramira.

Neighbouring ugandans will now fully enjoy the benefits of Rwandan granite following the launch of East African Granite Industries in Kampala at the weekend.The new player on the Ugandan market was introduced to the business community by Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Uganda Frank Mugambage in partnership with the company’s General Manager Gentil Kangaho.While launching some of the products of the Rwanda-based firm, Mugambage decried the dependency Africans have had on products made from foreign markets, and implored Ugandans to embrace their own products."As players like East African Granite Industries (EAGI) come in, they fill this huge gap. Please make this product yours and we are very sure it will serve your right purpose,” Mugambage said.Kangaho briefed the business community on how EAGI had heavily invested in quarrying and granite processing, enabling to produce quality tiles and bespoke monumental stone such as kitchen work-tops, furniture, and building cladding."We currently employ Chinese who are now transferring their skills to Rwandans. This means the cost of production will, in the near future, go down,” he said, in reaction to concerns from the traders.Joshua Mayambala, a Ugandan trader, said they had always had to make orders from many markets outside Africa. "I’m grateful for the fact that we shall now have quality products on our shelves yet from a very nearby source,” he said.As part of its plan to fully utilise the Ugandan market, the company plans to open up a sales point and has already begun sourcing for distributors in other Ugandan towns like Mbarara, Jinja, Masaka and Entebbe.EAGI has distinguished itself with a state-of-the-art machinery to achieve a tile production capacity of 200,000 square metres per year with option to increase.