Construction of one of Africa’s largest chemical plants for clean water worth $112 million has begun. The plant, which will go by the name Msufini Company, will take 23 months to start production.
The chemical plant is a joint venture of Junaco Tanzania and Serba Company of Malyasia at 75 and 25 per cent respectively.
Once operation starts, the plant will provide a market for 2,500 tonnes of salt without iodine per year. The Industry, Trade and Investments minister Charles Mwijage said the investment will help the government cut cost of importing the chemicals for treating water.
According to media reports, 80 per cent of the product will be for the export market. This will go to the Asian, East African and parts of the European Union. The remaining 20 will cater to the domestic market.
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Junaco Tanzania Chief Executive Officer Justine Lambart said the chemical products for water treatment for the domestic market will be generated using salt sourced from Coast Region. He further added that the project would run in two phases; chlorine chemical and other by-products.
This venture will highly benefit Tanzania which currently imports chloride for treating water. The plant will produce 16 tonnes of chlorine per month at capacity. Serba Company’s group CEO Karim Abdullah said his company will bring to Tanzania the relevant technology.
On the other hand, customers will get a reprieve on water and sewerage bills as water treatment chemicals will be available domestically. Similarly, salt producers who were contemplating closing up due to lack of markets now have a reliable one.
Mr. Lambert described the project as unique, saying it is the second in Africa. Furthermore, the project will create 700 direct jobs upon completion. He also noted that uniodized salt is the potential material for the industry to produce chlorine alkaline. This, in turn, will be used to produce compounds for water treatment and disinfestation processes.
