Chinese construction firms in Rwanda see shrinking slice of pie as India, Turkey enter market
- Chinese construction companies also have to compete with their mainland rivals when bidding for Rwandan projects
- One strategy these companies can adopt is to expand into bigger African markets such as Kenya, a business consultant says
Chinese construction companies in Rwanda are facing stiffer competition from foreign firms and declining profits, with fewer development projects available for bidding since the pandemic.
The decline in the number of projects in Rwanda resulted from a government reallocation of Covid-related resources to the healthcare sector, said Tang Hai Ping, 34, a project manager of Chinese construction firm Stecol Corporation (Rwanda).
Chinese companies like Stecol had ventured into Rwanda following its government’s drive to launch various development projects in recent years, with help from China.
In the last two decades, China has funded 40 infrastructure-related projects totalling US$1.1 billion in the African country, ranging from hospitals to a hydropower plant, said Kyra Solomon, 26, a programme manager of US-based research project AidData’s Chinese Development Finance Programme.
Emmanuel Godfrey, a 24-year-old Liberian founder of strategic consulting firm Dobia Consulting in Kigali, said Rwanda’s construction industry lacked the expertise to handle such projects, which had been outsourced to companies from countries such as China.