Property developers are increasingly turning to local refractory bricks because of their several advantages.
The annual rainfall in the North Region is little, compared to the southern part of the country. However, when it does rain in the North Region, it tends to be brief, but stormy. As a result, homes and walls built with mud blocks do not resist rain for long. In order to save themselves the time and cost of always having to reconstruct after each rainy season, an increasing number of property developers in Benoué Division are now turning to clay-fired or fire bricks produced locally in kilns.
According to Abdou, 48, a refractory brick manufacturer in Pitoa, 15 km from Garoua, mud bricks are moulded and left to dry in the sun for a month. They are then arranged into a kiln in pyramid form, in preparation for firing. Each kiln takes 1,000 to 5,000 bricks. The holes between bricks are filled with wet cow dung and at a higher level, with mud. Meanwhile, a fairly big hole is left at the basement of the kiln for inserting logs of firewood. Firing takes a day and the bricks are removed and kept to cool before sale.
Abdou says his monthly income is in the range of 50,000 FCFA for about 800 successful bricks from each kiln. Each fire brick in Pitoa costs 100 FCFA, as against 25 FCFA for the local mud brick. In Bibemi, 64 km from Garoua (still in Benoué Division), the fire brick business is doing well. The little town’s population of about 14,000 inhabitants has over 50 fire brick producers. Garba Douba, 22, has been producing fire bricks for four years. He says out of 1,000 fire bricks, 800 might come out good; enabling him to make about 40,000 FCFA a month. Each brick here costs 50 FCFA, as against 25 FCFA for the earth equivalent.
Ahmadou, a Bibemi resident, says the local demand for traditional fire bricks outweighs supply. Many people with means now resort to using fire bricks for constructing their homes as against the former practice. Locals say the advantages of constructing with refractory or fire bricks are mainly two-fold – they are more resistant to stormy rains common in a region with little vegetation cover and to floods. In addition, the bricks are more presentable, and when plastered, can last for even 40 years.
