Roofings Unveils Shs466 Billion Steel Facility, Boosting Uganda's Manufacturing Capacity

Roofings Group has officially inaugurated a state-of-the-art integrated steel facility, an investment valued at Shs466 billion ($125 million), at its Namanve Industrial Park premises. This expansion represents a significant leap for Uganda’s steel sector, enhancing local value addition and boosting the nation’s capacity to produce sophisticated steel products.

The new facility is equipped with four advanced production lines. These include a 4-Hi Cold Rolling Mill for precise thickness and flatness control, an Edge Trimming Line for accurate width adjustments, a Hot-Dip Galvanizing Line to enhance corrosion resistance with aluminium and zinc coatings, and a Colour Coating Line for high-quality pre-painted steel finishes. This technological integration is set to deepen local steel processing, moving Uganda towards manufacturing higher-value goods.

According to Roofings Group CEO Arif Sheikh, this investment aims to double the company’s production capacity, increase exports of value-added products, and meet the growing domestic demand for quality roofing materials. The company’s overall production capacity has risen from 382,000 tonnes per annum to 625,000 tonnes, allowing for the monthly production of approximately 4.2 million iron sheets.

During the inauguration, President Yoweri Museveni hailed the facility as a crucial step in Uganda’s industrialization journey, emphasizing its role in strengthening local value addition, creating employment, and reducing reliance on imported steel products. He also highlighted Uganda’s potential to leverage its abundant iron ore resources to build a competitive domestic steel industry.

The long-term vision extends to processing Uganda’s own iron ore, a move supported by the Ministry of Energy, which is identifying land for a facility capable of handling this upstream process. This would further solidify Uganda’s position in the steel value chain, moving beyond processing imported materials to utilizing domestic resources for key sectors like construction and manufacturing.

This development underscores Roofings’ commitment to regional steel manufacturing, building on a journey that began with a single galvanizing line decades ago. The company now stands as a major player in East and Central Africa’s steel market.

Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)