Roofings Group: Manufacturing Quality Steel Products for Uganda and East Africa

Interview with Sikander Lalani, Chairman and CEO of Roofings Group

What is your assessment of the steel sector? What are the main challenges?

I have been in the steel industry in Uganda for the last 25 years. The industry is constantly growing. There are quite a few manufacturers here. We are one of the most advanced backward integrated companies. All the players in the sector are growing. There are challenges in infrastructure in the country and in the region at large that must be improved. When we started, it took about 15 days to get goods from Mombasa to Kampala because Uganda is a landlocked country. Now, it takes about one week to 10 days. If we have a standard gauge railway from Mombasa to Kampala, it would only take about four days. It would also cause less damage to the roads because currently, most of the traffic is from trucks. Rail also causes less pollution. We are waiting for these changes to come.

How competitive is the sector? What are your competitive advantages?

In the medium to long term, we want to be the largest steel manufacturer in the East African Community and Africa with the highest quality products to satisfy the market and the population of the entire continent.

It is a very competitive sector. There is competition within the country and the East African Community. The East African Community is open and there is no tariff on movement of goods from one country to another. We fight competition by improving quality through mass production, reduction in prices, etc. In the steel industry and hot rolled coil, the best quality materials we get are from Japan, and secondly South Africa. Once you have the best raw materials, you can produce quality products. To produce quality products, you need a lot of high technology and training. We have about 8% Japanese equity partners with a lot of experience in steel and good technology transfer. Yodogawa Steel and Fujiden are our partners and we enjoy very strong ties with them. This is how we provide top quality products into the region. Finally, there is quality pace not only for us and the competition but also for the population. In Uganda, most people save money for three to four years just to cover their house. It is our duty to provide them quality products that will last them for 30 to 40 years. This is also the ethical and social responsibility for companies like ours.

What areas of the sector are you focusing on?

Our number one market is infrastructure projects. In Uganda, there is a lot of development of hydropower which is our main market. Our second market is in construction materials for buildings. In Kampala and Uganda there is a lot of construction happening. Each building uses our range of materials – reinforcement bars, roofing shades, polypipes for water supply, etc.

What ISO certifications do you hold?

Roofings Group holds all the ISO certifications in health, environmental, safety, etc. On top of that, we have the Uganda National Bureau of Standards certification for standards within the country. In addition, term to term we get all our products certified by Japanese standards. This is an extra measure to provide quality products in the region.

What does the recent sustainability report that you have published mean for you?

We are very active in environmental protection. Any plant we have here we try to make 100% environmentally friendly. For example, in Namanve, we use a lot of acid to pickle the hot rolled coils. The pickling process is used to clean rust and dust from the coils. We invested a lot of money into 100% acid recycling in that plant. We do not put any acid back out into the environment. It protects the environment, the future of Uganda, and the future of our children. Besides, the smoke or dust released from the steel is captured and disposed of rather than put into the atmosphere. All these environmental protection systems require investment and we make sure to invest the maximum to achieve this. We are one of the most environmental protection conscious companies in East Africa.

What is your international reach?

Internationally, we source our raw material from Japan, South Africa, Italy, Belgium, Russia. Even our machinery is sourced from all over the world including Japan, Germany, Austria, Italy, Belgium. We do not sacrifice for quality. We get only the top-class machinery.

Where are your clients based?

Our main market is Uganda. 62% of the market is here. The remainder is exports to the region. Our main exporting countries are Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, northern Tanzania, South Sudan and Kenya. After having paid the transport costs up to Uganda for our goods which come through Kenya, we are able to export because we have quality products. We are suppliers for the entire region.

What is one of your success stories?

I started my business in Rwanda 50 years ago and had a dream to have a quality cold rolling mill complex. This project was realized about four and a half years ago with the help of a lot of suppliers of different quality machines, a lot of family support, and support from my workers and all of the top staff from the company. The teamwork made a huge difference in our success.

What are your current projects?

For the last 25 years, we have not stopped developing. We have continuously invested in new technology, new machinery, new products. We want to expand into Kenya with a new plant in Mombasa because there is a huge market there and in Tanzania. From Mombasa, the accessibility to Tanzania and the rest of Africa is much easier. It is on the coast rather than landlocked like Uganda so we can target a much larger market.

What is your plan for investors?

For extensive investment in the country and in the region, our vision is to go public. This would come with two advantages. We can raise a lot of capital and invest that capital in Uganda and the region. This would also ensure that our family is responsible to the public. I want to make sure that this is true for the next generation as well.

Project yourself two to three years, the medium term. What do you want to achieve?

In the medium to long term, we want to be the largest steel manufacturer in the East African Community and Africa with the highest quality products to satisfy the market and the population of the entire continent.

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