BUSINESS OUTLOOK: From $50,000 construction company to an over $20m real estate dealer

Because of the sector’s massive opportunities, its may look obvious his company to be the leading estate developers in Rwanda. Though DN International’s founder, Nathan Loyd has been in Rwanda’s construction industry for a little time (as a foreign investor) he has a success story to tell. Loyd woke up one bright morning in 2003 and opened a shop for construction. The shop had one desk, a laptop and one mini-truck. With the need to expand, the procurement of small assets to build up on necessary building material began. By then the company was mainly doing design and build projects. Within a year, the company’s project value grew from $50,000 (Rwf28 million) to $100,000 (Rwf56.6 million). This saw the company awarded a contract to expand a primary school in Kigali known as Centre Islamique d’Enseignement Secondaire à Kigali (CIESK), the golf club’s club house and prefabricated classrooms at the Kigali institute of Education (KIE). With all the above developments, the company’s project value mounted to $250,000 (Rwf141.5 million) in two years. “Bigger projects began coming in some of which include, the Canadian Embassy, British Embassy, and old US Embassy,” Loyd said. “This was the turning point for the entire company,” he added.In 2006 to 2007, projects’ value was around $500,000 (Rwf283 million) to $1,500,000 (Rwf849 million), which included the 23 Kobil Petroleum stations around the country and the new US Embassy. DN International is estimated to have projects worth $20 million, with its investment in real estate projects around Kigali. The Hill view estate in Masaka, with 28 housing units, was worth $1.5 million (Rwf848 million). The Green park Villas project with two phases is valued at $20 million (Rwf11.4 billion). The first phase of 40 bungalows will cost $ 5.5 million (Rwf3.1 billion) and the second phase of 32 maisonettes and 26 3-storey apartments is sized at $15 million (Rwf8.5 billion). Because of the sector’s massive opportunities, its may look obvious his company to be the leading estate developers in Rwanda. However, according to Loyd, it would be impossible without government will and investment incentives as well as committed staff. Ends