New Growth Opportunities for Coatings in East Africa

In the past three years, East African countries have recorded steady economic growth, with governments in the region substantially increasing their infrastructure spending, including housing, a key consumer of sustainable paint and coatings solutions.

Analysts project Eastern Africa as one of Africa’s fastest-growing regions. Growth is projected to ease from 6.6 percent in 2025 to 5.9 percent in 2026, a trend the African Development Bank (AfDB) attributes to “rising energy and import costs linked to Middle East disruptions.”

However, the growth trend is expected to rebound to 6.4 percent in 2027 because of “the benefits of macroeconomic policies and investments in key public infrastructure kick in, coupled with gains from sustained efforts toward economic diversification.”

“Six countries in the region —Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda — are expected to post growth rates above 5 percent in both 2026 and 2027, driven by strong performance in agriculture, mining, services, and exports,” AfDB says in its latest African Economic Outlook 2026.

Furthermore, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), which promotes the economic and social development of its 54 member states within the African continent, affirms the Eastern Africa region is experiencing growth rates of nearly 6 percent,  comfortably exceeding the African average of 4.1 percent.

ECA’s 2025 analysis of the region’s economic performance shows that some countries such as Rwanda and Tanzania posted “exceptional performances” at 11 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively.

It said Kenya maintained a steady economic resilience at 5 percent for 2025 as Uganda’s economy showed a strong early-year surge, peaking at 8 percent in the first quarter of the year before easing to 4.8 percent by the third quarter.

And as Basco Paints Uganda said in a recent social media post, “the paint industry doesn’t just follow the economy, it reflects it.”

“When construction picks up, paint sales follow closely behind,” the company said.

“When more people buy homes or renovate existing ones, hardware stores see more foot traffic, painters get more work, and local suppliers restock faster. It’s one of the clearest signs that people are building, investing, and looking ahead with confidence,” Basco Paints added.

Kansai Paint

One of Eastern Africa’s top paint and coatings market players is Kansai Paint, which acquired shares in the Sadolin Group, a coatings manufacturer in the East African, now Kansai Plascon East Africa Ltd. Kansai Paint sees the growth of the region’s economy, though varying from country to country, as a long-term business opportunity for the industry.

The company has been building on its ONE KANSAI vision, an initiative it says is about creating one unified global way of working, and the ONE AFRICA system it says has helped in the reorganization of the business operations in Eastern Africa and Southern Africa, “focusing on unification of strategies and visions of the two regions.”

It says in its latest annual report to shareholders that the East Africa region remains a key growth market for the company for its architectural paints and coatings market.

“Africa is our growth engine, a market that combines growth and profitability (and) we plan to leverage our leading share in the architectural paints and coatings market to capture market growth driven by growing populations,” it added.

The company, according to Prejay R. Lalla, executive officer, head of Africa Business Unit, is committed to maintaining its position as market leader in Uganda and Tanzania. Meanwhile, it is increasing its market share in Kenya and sees stable long-term economic growth, especially in Uganda and Tanzania, despite what is sees as short-term volatility.

Already, Kansai Paint says, through Kansai Plascon Eastern Africa Ltd, it has established a solid business presence in Kenya and aims to drive market share expansion. This is largely focused on meeting the increasing demand for architectural paints and coatings and largely driven by the region’s urbanization trends.

Crown Paints Group

Elsewhere, Crown Paints Group, which recently welcomed Mustafa Turra as the new chief executive officer replacing the long-serving Dr. Rakesh Rao, says the Eastern Africa region “is experiencing significant growth, with increasing demand for our high-quality coating solutions.”

The group says that despite its operating environment in the region remaining highly competitive and increasingly influenced by factors such as foreign exchange volatility, rising input costs, global supply chain disruptions, and evolving sustainability expectations, Eastern Africa continues to present significant long-term growth opportunities for the Crown Paints brand, which is largely distributed mainly in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.

It says there are strategic growth opportunities in Eastern Africa for the company and its competitors as the region goes through “significant growth, with increasing demand for our high-quality coating solutions.”

Kenya

For instance, in Kenya, the government is increasing government expenditure in the affordable housing program, previously initiated to address the housing demand estimated at 250,000 homes annually.

The government has stepped up implementation of the program, targeting an increase in the number of new homes constructed annually from 50,000 homes, predominantly in the high-end market, to at least 200,000 homes. The emphasis is on expanding the development in low-income segments across the country’s urban areas.

Meanwhile, during the fiscal year 2026/2027, the government promises to spend more on the development of more than 22,000 institutional housing units for security officers, teachers, healthcare workers, and other government workers.

John Mbadi, national treasury cabinet secretary, announced a US$1 billion budgetary allocation in the fiscal year 2026/2026 for the housing, urban development and public works sub-sectors.

He said the funding includes US$142.3 million under the Kenya Urban Programme, US$387.2 million for construction of affordable housing units, US$160 million for social housing units, US$154.6 million for institutional housing, and US$139.3 million for critical social and physical infrastructure.

An additional US$20.7 million has been set aside in the current financial year for the Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Project Phase II and US$4 million targeted to support the construction of headquarters for some of the country’s 47 devolved governments.

This investment in residential and commercial buildings will not only improve living conditions, provision of services and local governance capacity as Mbadi says, but is also expected to drive demand for eco-friendly paints, varnishes, and surface treatments across Kenya’s urban areas.

Musalia Mudavadi, Kenya’s prime cabinet secretary and cabinet secretary for foreign and diaspora affairs, told participants at the recent second edition of the Africa Urban Forum in Nairobi that investing in urban housing would not only meet the demand for shelter but also stimulate industries, generate employment, and anchor communities.

“Housing is too often treated as a social obligation or a consumption good but in reality, it is foundational infrastructure—and an economic sector in its own right, with deep linkages across construction, manufacturing, finance, and services,” he said.

“Well-planned and well-financed cities can drive industrialization, unlock productivity, create employment at scale, and serve as engines of innovation and can connect markets, deepen regional integration, and expand opportunity for millions,” Mudavadi added.

Uganda and Tanzania

Elsewhere in Uganda, the government in the past year has been focusing on expanding infrastructure in the education sector, with official reports saying that 90 additional secondary schools were constructed in 2025 and another 54 existing were expanded, a program likely to have increased uptake of paint and coatings.

Furthermore, demand for different types of paint and coatings is expected to remain high as Uganda invests in preparation for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2027), to be held from June 19 to July 17, 2027 and co-hosted by Kenya and Tanzania.

In June, the government said the country’s new Hoima Stadium had been completed, while upgrades to Namboole Stadium is ongoing. Construction of other required tournament facilities remains on schedule, as is the construction of Akii-Bua Stadium.

Elsewhere, Tanzania has also been investing in the transformation of Dodoma City, the country’s administrative capital with more than 765,000 people, in partnership with the private sector, diplomatic missions and international organizations.

The government has committed to invest more in the development of Dodoma and ensure it serves as a “symbol of economic transformation, a strategic hub for transport and logistics serving Tanzania and neighbouring countries, and a model of sustainable urban development for other regions and cities across the country.”

Other large infrastructure projects such as the ongoing Standard Gauge Railway and Msalato International Airport are also expected to provide additional opportunities for the country’s paints and coatings manufacturers and distributors.

Dodoma is one of the many cities being expanded in Eastern Africa as the region experiences what the French Development Agency(AFD), a public French financial institution that supports and complements France’s diplomacy, says is “one of the fastest rates of urbanization in the world, with annual growth exceeding 5 percent.”

With more than 50 percent of urban residents in Eastern Africa living in informal settlements, governments in the region are fast-tracking construction of new housing units to meet demand.

“Investments in housing will not only provide shelter but also create millions of jobs, stimulate local economies, and improve the quality of life for millions of Africans,” Judith Nabakooba, Uganda’s minister of lands, housing and urban development, was recently quoted as saying.

Addressing the housing deficit and prioritizing sustainable urban planning, she said, would enable “Africa (to) unlock the potential of its cities to drive innovation, economic growth, and social progress.”

With Eastern Africa’s economy expected to continue on its growth trajectory, the region’s paints and coatings market is expected to respond with a surge in consumption of sustainable protective, decorative, and industrial solutions to meet demand triggered by the emerging residential and commercial housing programmes as well as physical infrastructure driven by rapid urbanization.