36 , Thursday, October 3, 2019 CLIENT FEATURE People,profits and purpose:

Oliver Lalani, executive director Roofings Group, outlines the vision, journey, achievements and challanges of the group as well as the future projections.

riefly tell us about yourself and Roofings Group Roofings is a crown jewel in the manufacturing sector in BUganda, having a far reaching influence across the east and central African steel and plastic market space. I have been involved with the company since 2009, although I spent a few summers during my schooling abroad doing some jobs down on the shop floor. This involved stacking steel pipes and Roofing sheets fresh of the production line and learning about the various processes in steel forming and Roofings group limited recently celebrated their 25th anniversary at the Serena Hotel last month shaping. I joined the company after You have watched Roofings of this ‘promise’, creating doing my bachelors degree in grow since your childhood, massive employment CHALLENGES economics and management in terms of achieving opportunities for Ugandans Unfair competition, just when breaking of the the mission and vision and ensuring domestic value dumping of construction ground at Roofings Rolling of Roofings Group, what addition, export revenue materials from abroad Mills in started. would be your assessment? generation, and import and relative high cost of The experience in watching Roofings has made an substitution which our country doing business. the three unique production immense effort to be the most badly needs in the quest to plants being built from scratch ethical, quality-conscious, achieve middle income status. and then gradually operating reputable, reliable and in the 1970s which put it far at higher utilisation levels professional construction You are celebrating 25 behind some of its neighbours was one of a lifetime and material manufacturer in the years, what do you see as in manufacturing output. The which I cherish to this day. market. your biggest milestone? inception of various industrial Most especially, the diversity In aiming to be the largest The biggest milestone in my parks was a key step to of nationalities and cultures and most diversified steel view, is the realisation of RRM, encourage value addition and working together to construct manufacturer, and being a Namanve. This investment technological advancement in and commission one of one-stop shop for steel and is incomparable not only in the manufacturing sector. Africa’s finest steel complexes Oliver Lalani, executive director Roofings Group plastic construction materials, but in the entire east When Roofings became was inspiring to me. Roofings has continuously and central African region, the first mover into KIBP, Roofings was able to tap into technological excellence in For a company born in invested in additional product perhaps even the continent Namanve, the doors opened best practices from the most producing the right quantity Uganda, this is an unparalleled streams and most importantly at large. Uganda’s industrial for many other companies to renowned machine makers with the best quality available accomplishment, for which we in to backward integration. development was severely follow suit. When Roofings across the globe to achieve on the market. are all proud. RRM was the culmination retarded due to the troubles moved into the park, it was CLIENT FEATURE NEW VISION, Thursday, October 3, 2019 37 Roofings’ 25-year journey

literally a bush. company going forward in the clients, the Government of everyone to be proud and feel of continuous growth and No power, marrum roads COMMITMENT next 25 years. Uganda, and all stakeholders inspired. development. and no connected water. As for their crucial part in the As the 25 years campaign The future of Uganda is the project took off, so did Everyone at Roofings What is your promise to the success story of Roofings. slogan reads – there is so bright, and Roofings is a star, infrastructure in the park. will continue working consumer for the next 25 The company could have much more to do – which which aims to shine brighter Now, it is home to the most hard and keeping on its years and more? never reached this milestone signifies the intention that each passing moment on this trajectory of continuous technologically advanced steel First of all, on behalf of the without the relentless support everyone at Roofings will remarkable story of socio- growth and development manufacturer in the region! entire team at Roofings; I from its well-wishers, so continue working hard and economic growth in the Pearl Roofings has a lot to thank would like to thank our staff, this is really a moment for keeping on its trajectory of Africa. the Government of Uganda for creating an enabling business environment. is flowing, which is mega. The progression of Roofings is synonymous with the What are some of the growth of the Ugandan challenges encountered by economy, which is something Roofings Group in the last every citizen should be proud 25 years of existence? of and enjoy. As is the case with any success story, there have What are your views on been quite a few challenges Uganda’s construction which have been faced. Unfair sector? competition, dumping of The construction sector has construction materials from been maturing at a very fast abroad and relative high cost pace. Due to the growing of doing business are a few rates of urbanisation, examples. industrialisation and However, with the help infrastructure development, from government agencies, the availability of high quality one by one the bottlenecks steel in adequate quantity is of are being resolved so that paramount importance. This is the manufacturing sector in where Roofings comes in. general can grow and cater Private sector growth is for the ever-growing needs of picking up in the economy, as Ugandans. witnessed with the growth in the industrial park, where 260 How is Roofings positioning companies are set to move in itself to remain the with dozens having opened up leading steel and plastic shop already. manufacturing plant in the The Ugandan population is region? growing at a very fast rate Roofings is continuing to and life expectancy is also invest in technology and increasing, this means that modernise its systems and companies have to cater for processes in keeping up with more and more demand, the latest trends in global best which is a great opportunity practices. for the private sector. The equity partnership There is a shortage of about and technical assistance a million homes in the country arrangement with a company which will need to be satisfied like Yodogawa Steel Works with time. is testimony to the length The continuous investment at which Roofings will go to in infrastructure development absorb new and better ways of by the Government is another operating. lifeline for the construction The company also continues sector, especially in to invest in its people which anticipation of the oil and gas is key, as they will be the activities, there is a lot more drivers of the growth to come. construction being planned. Professional governance The construction sector’s mechanisms, succession contribution to Uganda’s GDP planning and continuous is set to double by the time oil training will be key for the

Guests at the anniversary celebrations last month