BASF yesterday inaugurated its new production plant for concrete admixtures in Nairobi. The production  site  will  allow  BASF  to  better  meet  the  increasing demand for construction chemicals of customers in Eastern Africa. There, BASF produces standard and custom-made performance admixtures from the MasterRheobuild® and the MasterGlenium® product line.

“We are now able to rapidly supply our customers with admixtures for all cement and aggregate types, whether their construction projects are located in the urban areas of Eastern Africa or in more remote sites,” said Dick Purchase, head of BASF’s Regional Business Unit Construction Chemicals Middle East, West Asia, CIS and Africa. BASF’s admixtures enable to produce concrete with higher strength, and to increase its workability retention. This is of special importance in urban areas such as Nairobi, Kenya, or Kampala, Uganda, where transportation of concrete to the construction site may take longer due to high traffic.

Kenya  is  a  particularly  strong  growing  market  for  construction chemicals in Eastern Africa. “Growth in emerging markets is an integral component of BASF’s ‘We create chemistry’ strategy,” said Laurent  Tainturier,  Senior  Vice  President  for  BASF  region  CIS, Middle East and Africa at BASF. “In line with this, BASF’s Africa strategy aims to double sales on the continent by the year 2020. The new production facility will strengthen the product portfolio in the region, and will meet the demands for multi-story buildings, long- lasting infrastructural constructions and more energy efficiency in construction techniques,” he said. Cement is expensive and scarce in Eastern Africa. With BASF products, it can be partially replaced in the concrete mix designs. Solutions from BASF also help to comply with energy efficiency certifications for buildings such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design by U.S. Green Building Council).

The new production site in Nairobi is a further step to strengthen the global  network  of  the  Master  Builders  Solutions®    brand.  The solutions offered by the brand will also strongly benefit contractors from other regions doing construction projects in Eastern Africa, as they may already know the product portfolio and technologies.

At the opening ceremony,  Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary of  Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ambassador Amina Mohamed, said: “Not only will BASF now be able to further contribute to the building of sustainable structures in Eastern Africa, it will also bring employment opportunities and expertise to the region’s construction sector.”

The  production plant is located in the  Mlolongo  area  of Greater Nairobi. It has good access to the road network and the Mombasa Port to receive raw materials, deliver to customers in Nairobi and Kenya and to export to neighboring countries such as South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.  BASF has been actively selling construction chemicals to the Eastern African market for more than 25 years. Other production sites in Africa are located in Westonaria, South Africa; Algiers, Algeria; Sadat City, Egypt and Casablanca, Morocco.