Kenyan restaurant chain, Java House, has opened its first outlet in Rwanda on Friday, in its wider plans to grow its footprint in the regional market.

The coffee house, which is the firm’s 56th, is located at Kigali Heights, the latest premier office and commercial complex in the capital.

The entry of Java House is set to heighten competition among coffee houses in Kigali where it also plans to open a second shop.

The brewed coffee business is currently dominated by Bourbon Coffee with a few other players including Simba Café, Neo, Shokola and Magdar also having a share of the beverage-drinking market.

READ: Rwandans embrace coffee culture

Java House Group chief executive officer, Ken Kuguru said after Kigali, the firm is eying Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

He said coffee consumption in its outlets has grown over the years from 10 tonnes to 15 tonnes annually as a growing middle class drives demand for brewed coffee.

The firm also roasts and packages its own coffee.

“We source the coffee from Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia,” Mr Kuguru said.

In Uganda, Java has six outlets, four in Kampala, one in Entebbe and the other in Jinja.

Over years, the restaurant chain has invested a combined $4 million in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda with Kenya taking the lion’s share of the expansion budget.