BASF opens concrete admixture production facility in Nairobi, Kenya
BASF’s first production plant for construction chemicals in Eastern Africa
BASF 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.
BASF's Construction Chemicals plant for concrete admixtures in Nairobi, Kenya: (From left) Laurent Tainturier, BASF Senior Vice President CIS, Middle East and Africa; Ambassador Amina Mohamed, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Dick Purchase, head of BASF’s Regional Business Unit Construction Chemicals Middle East, West Asia, CIS and Africa.
BASF
“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 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.
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.”
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