Malta Forrest, a group based in Lubumbashi, in the Katanga province of Congo Democratic Republic, plans to invest several hundred million dollars to build a cement factory, a hydroelectric dam and take over a mining company in Namibia, the group’s spokesman, Henry de Harenne, announced here.
Malta Forrest has sizable shares in several cement factories in the DR Congo, and its announcement came after the Lukala Cement Factory (CILU), in which it has a stake, was destroyed by torrential rain in the Bas-Congo province, about 100 km west of Kinshasa. It will be out for at least three months.
There are fears that the plan to invest in Namibia may reduce Malta Forrest’s production in Congo.
But Harenne dispelled that, saying: “We had been discussing Namibia for a long time. The stoppage at CILU is due to weather conditions. It is a problem for both the employees and owners of CILU. We are all helping each other in Lukala. We are trying to restart the factory as soon as possible in order to resume production.
”That has nothing to do with Namibia. Namibia is a country which offers opportunities, but that does not put into question our investment in the DRC,” he assures.
Malta Forrest’s plan is to produce 1 million tonnes of cement a month in its Namibia cement factory, against CILU’s monthly production of 450,000 tonnes.
