President William Ruto broke ground on 27 October for Devki Group’s clinker and cement plant at Ngaaie in Kitui County, valued at about $540 million. It is the county’s first cement plant and Devki’s second clinker project after Sebit in West Pokot, commissioned in April 2024 with a capacity of 6,000 tonnes a day. Kenya has charged a levy on imported clinker since 2023 to push manufacturers to make the main cement ingredient at home, and chairman Narendra Raval said the company had planned the Kitui plant for about ten years. Local clinker would cut the cement industry’s import bill and serve demand from the state housing programme and the proposed Dangote refinery in Lamu.
Sources
- Citizen Digital: https://citizen.digital/article/president-ruto-breaks-ground-for-ksh70-billion-devki-clinker-and-cement-plant-in-kitui-n392819
- The Eastleigh Voice: https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/business/416621/kitui-set-to-get-first-cement-plant-following-sh70-billion-devki-investment
- The Star (Kenya): https://www.the-star.co.ke/in-pictures/2026-10-27-ruto-breaks-ground-for-sh70-billion-cement-plant-in-kitui
- Business Daily Africa: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/industry/manufacturing/devki-new-cement-plant-5647972