THE RICHEST AFRICAN COMPLETES FIVE CEMENT PLANTS

Five cement plants belonging to Dangote Cement and spread across five countries in Africa will be completed this year, the company has said.

The plants, which are at various stages of construction, according to the Group President and Chief Executive, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, will add about 13.5 million metric tonnes of cement per annum to the existing capacity, when completed.

They are the 1.5mmtpa Zambian plant, Tanzania’s 1.5mmtpa plant, South Africa’s 3mmtpa plant; and the Republic of Congo and Gabon’s plants with 1.5mmtpa capacity each.

A statement by the company on Sunday stated that back home, Dangote Cement was already working on the third and fourth production lines to the existing 6mmtpa in Ibese, Ogun State to bring the total capacity to 12mmtpa, while another 3mmtpa line was being added to the Obajana cement plant in Kogi State.

Addressing a group of African businessmen in his office at the weekend, Dangote said the group’s core business focus was to provide local value-added products and services that met the basic needs of the populace through construction and operation of large-scale manufacturing facilities across Africa.

According to him, the group is focused on building local manufacturing to generate employment, prevent capital flight and provide locally-produced goods for the people.

He said presently, Obajana was the largest cement plant in sub-Saharan Africa with a current capacity of 10.25mmtpa and an additional 3mmpa planned before the end of this year.

Dangote stated that the group would continue to lead other investors to ensure that Nigeria became an industrial giant that was self-sufficient in production rather than being a leader in importation.

He said “This, indeed, shows that Africa is gradually taking its destiny in its own hands rather than wait for investors from outside Africa. Investment in the real sector of the economy is the only way that our continent can achieve the much desired accelerated growth and development that we have yearned for.

“The developmental challenges of Africa are quite tremendous. According to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute issued in June 2010, Africa requires at least $46bn in spending annually to meet infrastructural needs. It is obvious that African governments alone cannot hope to meet this demand due to the various competing needs in other aspects of the economy.”