| dc.description.abstract | One measure of a country's state of development is the per capita consumption of
cement of the population; which currently is low in Kenya compared to other countries
like South Africa and Egypt. Cement forms the critical base for infrastructural
development for putting up residential housing, commercial buildings, roads, other
facilities like water and sanitation systems, ports, airports among others. Its application
is very wide thus it has high positive multiplier effect on the rest of the economy; and
therefore it stimulates and enhances the economic development of the country. Thus
the environmental challenges facing the industry and responses taken to address
them formed the focus of this study.
From late 1980s to 2002, the economic growth in Kenya went down and together with
that the cement industry stagnated as the demand for cement went down too, leading
to idle capacity in the cement firms. Major economic activities such as building and
road construction slowed down due to less allocation of funds for this sector, coupled
with corruption leading to withdrawal of donor funding. Besides, the quality of facilities
such as roads put up and the existing ones went down and contributed to the overall
cost of doing business in this country. With a new government in place in 2003, the
industry begun to pick up, and with growth in economy, the demand for cement grew
faster than the industry could cope up with. Hence this study looked at the economic,
political & legal, social, technological, ecological and demographic challenges facing
the industry as well as the responses taken to mitigate them.
To unravel challenges and responses, the research methodology involved the use of
survey approach with the help of an interview guide, was applied to gather primary
data from key senior and middle management of the two cement firms under study.
The key findings of the study included high cost of production due to expensive and
inadequate electric ,imported coal, high taxation, high transport charges due to poor
roads and poor rail network, inadequate investments in the industry among others.
Both strategic and operational planning has been applied to tackle the challenges
faced in order to forge ahead. Strategically, ARM and EAPC are implementing various
plans such as internal capacity expansions, local and regional expansions, developing
special products, more and active participation in social responsibilities, lobbying the
government for better reforms in the industry among others. Operationally, major
departmental functions are being enhanced by putting up proper systems, adequate
manpower, increased financial budgets and planning to cater for the increased
activities in line with the growing volume of business in the industry. At policy level,
EACPA (Kenya Chapter) should engage the Government harder for support to
address some of the challenges that are beyond the scope of the cement firms. | en |
