70 percent of the civil and associated planned works already completed with high prospects of commissioning by March next year
Bralirwa Ltdís investment upgrade programme worth US$40 million that was announced early in 2012 advances according to plan.
A visit to the Gisenyi plant reveals that over 70 percent of the major civil and associated works has been done and that the project will be completed to plan in 2013..
At the he Kicukiro site , the companyís technical staff managing the project say that civil works execution will conmmence in 2012 with installation of the new line due to be completed in 2013.
The companyís Senior management makes clear that the upgrade is a sign of trust and confidence in Rwandaís economy which continues to experience steady GDP growth despiteglobal uncertainities.Rwanda is recognized as offering one of Africaís best investment destinations. As widely reported, global beer and soft drinks companies see se potential in African markets such as Rwanda driven by a record of steady GDP growth , favourable demographics and the emergence of more consumers into the moneyed economy. Rwandaís rising consumption patterns is consistently above sub Saharan peers and offers the prospects of a growing consumer market.Bralirwa Ltd is the market leader in Rwanda based upon a 50 year history of investing in and developing Rwandaís modern beverage industry.
ìOf course as we have so often said, we remain committed to developing and deepening our involvement in Rwanda. The economic outlook in East Africa and Rwanda remains positive. Thatís why in 2012 we voted with our wallets and invested.Jonathan Hall Bralirwaís Managing Director says.
Rwanda Development Board (RDB) Chief Operating Officer Tony Nsanganira says that the long and proven partnerships between Rwanda and solid companies such as Bralirwa is just what Rwandaís economy needs in order to ensure transformation and sustainability. ìIn order to do so, the contribution of manufacturing sector will have to increase over the years to come in order for Rwanda to achieve The Vision 2020 targetsî, Nsanganira observed.
The RDB COO further adds; ìPlanners are expecting growth of Rwandaís industrial sector annually to reach over 14 percent between 2012 and 2020 up from an average of less than 10 percent over the last 12 years. Bralirwaís investment upgrade should thus be seen in the wider context of growing the local industrial capacities since the company has a good understanding of the local environmentî. Nsanganira added that RDB welcomes with great pleasure Bralirwaís expansion plans
At the Gisenyi site five teams of local and foreign contractors were busy working on various programmes geared towards installing additional brewing and storage capacity.ì The master-plan of the programme is to increase production through a phased approach. By quarter 2 2013 we should have completed this phase of the programme., Engineer Willem Domburg Installation manager for the upgrade project at Bralirwa says.
ìThe civil works entails welding the storage tanks on site while the ground works is being finalized. Thereafter supporting pillars are installed upon which the tanks are mounted.The Installation Manager explained the process leading to commissioning. ìThere are many different steps to be followed all in line with Heineken best practice. These include temperature control, the cooling and pressure testsî. The entire upgrade scheme at Gisenyi engaged over 150 people of different categories from skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled although the employment impact is far bigger than that since it involves several layers of linkages from different industries, according to Domburg.
ìSuch a project involves many partners from other industries. Just imagine the logistics that was involved or the suppliers of critical components such as cement, steel or even those doing catering for the workers on siteî, Domburg says.
At the Kicukiro engineers explain that the capacity extension works of the soft drinks lines and related utilities are on course. The first phase of the project that entails site preparation along with civil works and the second relates to actual installation of imported new plant and equipment. ìWe are excited about this project. It holds an important place in our objective of increasing our market presence. Detailed planning and use of related resources went into it prior to its execution.
Our management planning is meeting expectations and to date everything goes according to planî, Celestin Ntaganira senior project manager at Bralirwa in charge of the Kicukiro site development said.
Ntaganira added that some of the components for the installation have already arrived at the site paving the way for initial preparation for installations. ìCommissioning as scheduled for next year will be very much possible î, Ntaganira adds.
One of the most important components of the new investment upgrade is training of Bralirwa staff to enable them to acquire skills of managing the new facility. ìEvery project that Bralirwa conceives of this magnitude entails an elaborate training component that is normally concluded before commissioning.
The training component is part and parcel of the scope of works of the entire projectî,Jules Karitanyi Bralirwa Ltd Chief Engineer and Projects Manager at the Gisenyi plant says. All operators, maintenance staff, team leaders ,managers of the new facility will have been trained on the job on courses that lasted between one to two months. However, Bralirwa insists that training is taken as a continuous process and is fundamental to its r pursuit of excellence in production. The technology transfer components that come with training and new systems development has promises of bringing and deepening innovations especially technical knowhow within Rwandaís manufacturing sector.
ìThis is the biggest upgrade undertaken by Bralirwa for some time and involves the introduction into Rwandaís manufacturing sector of new technologies and production systems.,Karitanyi says. ì Bralirwa is responding positively to economic and market signals that indicate proactively to this growth by gearing up production based on high quality systems. That is why we carried out this investment of extension in our capacities on both sitesî, Pascal Karangwa Bralirwa Ltd Technical Director at Gisenyi plant says.
