Shem Oriere, Africa Correspondent02.21.24
Governments in East Africa are investing in new road construction and in the maintenance of existing ones during the current 2023/2024 fiscal year, a trend is likely to create more business opportunities for producers and distributors of road traffic coatings.
Tanzania’s finance minister Mwigulu Nchemba says by April 2023, the country was in the process of constructing 1,480 km of roads to bitumen standard. For the 2023/2024 fiscal year, Tanzania has allocated US$561 million for the construction of 798 km of tarmac roads to as well as 177 bridges.
Uganda has also announced a US$1.8 billion budget allocation for the landlocked country’s transport sector that includes completion of 16 major national road projects. The government has also secured US$608 million for the upgrading and signalization of the nearly 504 kms of roads in at least eight urban authorities.
Elsewhere, in Kenya, Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, Treasury cabinet secretary, sought approval from the country’s parliament for US$1.7 billion to finance construction of various roads and bridges as well as rehabilitation and maintenance of existing ones during the 2023/2024 fiscal year.
Rwanda also says the government will carry out maintenance of nearly 1,170 km of national paved roads that would require proper designed and appropriately placed road markings for safe movement of traffic.
For instance, the 400 km Malindi-Lunga Lunga-Tanga-Bagamoyo road linking Kenya and Tanzania is in progress with financing from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the European Union, two agencies that have already provided US$405 million for the project.
Another multinational road, the 305 km Kabingo-Kasulu-Manyovu-Gitara-Rumonge linking Tanzania and Burundi, has secured US$322 million in grants and loans from the AfDB.
All these national and multinational road projects in East Africa would require high volumes of signage on the road surfaces for the control, warning, guidance and additional information for road users.
Road markings, says Kenya’s State Department for Transport, “can also be used to supplement kerbside or overhead signs or they may be used independently.”
Kenya has based its road markings manual, in terms of material for the signage and design, on the 1968 UN Convention on Road Signs and Signals.
Some of the road markings include longitudinal markings, road junction marking and others such as those outside of road junctions like pedestrian crossing, hatched and chevron markings, arrow markings, parking bays and worded markings.
With some of road accidents attributed to poor road markings, paint and coatings market players in East Africa have developed their brand of road markings to effectively guide road users within and beyond their borders.
For instance, Crown Paints, one of the leading paints and coating solutions firm in East Africa, says it early on adopted an initiative to develop suitable and accurate road markings especially in Kenya, in accordance with the regulations established by State Department of Transport to support the drive to avert road accidents commonly attributed to confusion and erratic driving behaviour among motorists.
Currently, Crown Paints, which has four subsidiaries in East Africa including Regal Paints Uganda, Crown Paints Tanzania Ltd, Crown Paints Rwanda Ltd and Crown Paints Allied Industries Ltd, deals in two road marking products comprising Crown Road marking range of products and the thermoplastic road marking material.
The company, which posted a 6% increase in revenues for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022 to US$78 million from US$74 million in 2021, recommends the Thermoline road marking system for the road network in East Africa due to its fast-drying quality as well the product’s high retro-reflective performance during the day and night.
The thermoplastic road marking material is a formulation of plasticized resin, aggregate, pigment and glass beads supplied in powder form.
“Thermoline is heated and applied to the road surface where it rapidly cools and sets with the material consisting of 100% solids and is environmentally friendly as it is solvent free,” Crown Paints says in a previous statement.
Apart from Thermoline being a product of synthetic resin in combination with pigment, extenders and retro-reflective glass beads, Crown Paints says the product “conforms to the British Standards (BS) specifications, 3262: Part 1/1989 and Kenya Standard KS 2157-1: 2008.”
“Thermoline Road marking solutions aim to make our roads safer and more user friendly, making the driving experience more enjoyable,” Crown Paints adds.
Road contractors and agencies in East Africa have also been supplied with Plascon Road Marking Paint by Plascon East Africa, a product the company says it formulates “with a special synthetic alkyd binders and Chlorinated Rubber Resin which dry rapidly and gives maximum resistance to wear and weather.”
The Plascon Road Marking Paint product, like similar ones from other suppliers in the market, is targeted at the marking of traffic lines for highways, streets, airports, factories, parking lots and playgrounds according to information on the company’s profile page.
“Plascon Road Marking Paint is recommended where the drying time is considered very important - i.e. especially on roads that carry heavy traffic and where a rapid drying time is required,” it says.
Road safety remains a key concern in East Africa with Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda reporting high accident rates despite best efforts to reduce the incidents, some attributed to poor quality or absence of road markings.
For instance, Kenya’s National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) says at least 3,090 Kenyans either died or were injured in road accidents between Jan. 01 and Feb. 11, 2024, a significant increase from 2,384 people for similar period in 2023. Tanzania on the other hand reported 1,550 deaths from 1,640 road accidents between Jan. 1 to Dec. 12, 2023.
Police reports in Uganda an 12.8% increase in road accidents since 2022, with deaths surging by 2.4% to 2,042 for the six months to Aug. 30, 2023.
With the increasing expansion of road surfaces in East Africa, more business opportunities for players in the region’s road traffic coatings market are guaranteed even as governments in the region push not only for more modern transportation infrastructure networks but the safety that comes with it as well.
Tanzania’s finance minister Mwigulu Nchemba says by April 2023, the country was in the process of constructing 1,480 km of roads to bitumen standard. For the 2023/2024 fiscal year, Tanzania has allocated US$561 million for the construction of 798 km of tarmac roads to as well as 177 bridges.
Uganda has also announced a US$1.8 billion budget allocation for the landlocked country’s transport sector that includes completion of 16 major national road projects. The government has also secured US$608 million for the upgrading and signalization of the nearly 504 kms of roads in at least eight urban authorities.
Elsewhere, in Kenya, Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, Treasury cabinet secretary, sought approval from the country’s parliament for US$1.7 billion to finance construction of various roads and bridges as well as rehabilitation and maintenance of existing ones during the 2023/2024 fiscal year.
Rwanda also says the government will carry out maintenance of nearly 1,170 km of national paved roads that would require proper designed and appropriately placed road markings for safe movement of traffic.
Connecting Countries
Meanwhile, the East Africa Community (EAC), an intergovernmental organization composed of seven countries in East Africa including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania, is supporting construction of multinational roads linking several of these countries for ease of movement of human and vehicular traffic.For instance, the 400 km Malindi-Lunga Lunga-Tanga-Bagamoyo road linking Kenya and Tanzania is in progress with financing from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the European Union, two agencies that have already provided US$405 million for the project.
Another multinational road, the 305 km Kabingo-Kasulu-Manyovu-Gitara-Rumonge linking Tanzania and Burundi, has secured US$322 million in grants and loans from the AfDB.
All these national and multinational road projects in East Africa would require high volumes of signage on the road surfaces for the control, warning, guidance and additional information for road users.
Road markings, says Kenya’s State Department for Transport, “can also be used to supplement kerbside or overhead signs or they may be used independently.”
Kenya has based its road markings manual, in terms of material for the signage and design, on the 1968 UN Convention on Road Signs and Signals.
Some of the road markings include longitudinal markings, road junction marking and others such as those outside of road junctions like pedestrian crossing, hatched and chevron markings, arrow markings, parking bays and worded markings.
The Importance of Road Markings
The road markings are a vital component for road safety with the increasing use of the road network in East Africa. Each of the countries in the region has adopted a uniform and well-planned system of road signage to minimize road transport problems triggered by pavement deterioration, skid accidents, and the impact of weather conditions.With some of road accidents attributed to poor road markings, paint and coatings market players in East Africa have developed their brand of road markings to effectively guide road users within and beyond their borders.
For instance, Crown Paints, one of the leading paints and coating solutions firm in East Africa, says it early on adopted an initiative to develop suitable and accurate road markings especially in Kenya, in accordance with the regulations established by State Department of Transport to support the drive to avert road accidents commonly attributed to confusion and erratic driving behaviour among motorists.
Currently, Crown Paints, which has four subsidiaries in East Africa including Regal Paints Uganda, Crown Paints Tanzania Ltd, Crown Paints Rwanda Ltd and Crown Paints Allied Industries Ltd, deals in two road marking products comprising Crown Road marking range of products and the thermoplastic road marking material.
The company, which posted a 6% increase in revenues for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022 to US$78 million from US$74 million in 2021, recommends the Thermoline road marking system for the road network in East Africa due to its fast-drying quality as well the product’s high retro-reflective performance during the day and night.
The thermoplastic road marking material is a formulation of plasticized resin, aggregate, pigment and glass beads supplied in powder form.
“Thermoline is heated and applied to the road surface where it rapidly cools and sets with the material consisting of 100% solids and is environmentally friendly as it is solvent free,” Crown Paints says in a previous statement.
Apart from Thermoline being a product of synthetic resin in combination with pigment, extenders and retro-reflective glass beads, Crown Paints says the product “conforms to the British Standards (BS) specifications, 3262: Part 1/1989 and Kenya Standard KS 2157-1: 2008.”
“Thermoline Road marking solutions aim to make our roads safer and more user friendly, making the driving experience more enjoyable,” Crown Paints adds.
Road contractors and agencies in East Africa have also been supplied with Plascon Road Marking Paint by Plascon East Africa, a product the company says it formulates “with a special synthetic alkyd binders and Chlorinated Rubber Resin which dry rapidly and gives maximum resistance to wear and weather.”
The Plascon Road Marking Paint product, like similar ones from other suppliers in the market, is targeted at the marking of traffic lines for highways, streets, airports, factories, parking lots and playgrounds according to information on the company’s profile page.
“Plascon Road Marking Paint is recommended where the drying time is considered very important - i.e. especially on roads that carry heavy traffic and where a rapid drying time is required,” it says.
Road safety remains a key concern in East Africa with Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda reporting high accident rates despite best efforts to reduce the incidents, some attributed to poor quality or absence of road markings.
For instance, Kenya’s National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) says at least 3,090 Kenyans either died or were injured in road accidents between Jan. 01 and Feb. 11, 2024, a significant increase from 2,384 people for similar period in 2023. Tanzania on the other hand reported 1,550 deaths from 1,640 road accidents between Jan. 1 to Dec. 12, 2023.
Police reports in Uganda an 12.8% increase in road accidents since 2022, with deaths surging by 2.4% to 2,042 for the six months to Aug. 30, 2023.
With the increasing expansion of road surfaces in East Africa, more business opportunities for players in the region’s road traffic coatings market are guaranteed even as governments in the region push not only for more modern transportation infrastructure networks but the safety that comes with it as well.