Nigeria-based
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest man and Dangote’s chief executive, revealed this recently saying the company planned to expand regionally, with the aim of investing US$16 billion (€11.81 billion), where it already has considerable investments.
Dangote, already Africa’s leading cement producer, will complete five cement plants across five African countries in 2014, adding about 13.5 million tonnes of cement/year to its existing capacity when completed.
The plants are at various stages of construction, and Dangote says the projects highlight the company’s pan-African expansion drive.
They include the 1.5million tonnes/year Zambian plant; Tanzania’s 1.5 million tonnes/year plant; South Africa’s 3 million tonnes/year plant, and 1.5 million tonnes/year capacity plants in the Republic of Congo and Gabon.
The Dangote Group is inaugurating a US$400 million (€294 million) cement factory in Zambia.
In Nigeria, Dangote is working on the third and fourth production lines in the 6 million tonnes/year plant in Ibese, Ogun State, and the group says it plans to bring the plant’s total capacity to 12million tonnes/year, while another 3 million topnnes/year line is being added to the Obajana cement plant in Kogi State. An additional 3 million tonnes/year is planned for its Obajana plant before the end of 2014. The plant currently has a capacity of 10.25 million tonnes/year and an additional 3 million tonnes/year.
The group’s core focus involves providing local value-added products and services that will generate employment and prevent capital flight.
“We will continue to encourage other investors to ensure that Nigeria becomes a self-sufficient industrial giant rather than a leader in importation,” says Aliko Dangote.
According to him, continuous investments in Nigeria and the rest of Africa were borne out of the fact that the country is a fertile ground for investment.
Indeed, in 2013, a Renaissance Capital research credited Dangote cement as a major force behind Nigeria’s feat in overtaking South Africa as the biggest cement manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa.
