August 27, 2015- Dangote Cement Plc, a Nigerian company owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and Sinoma global Engineering Company Limited of China entered into a contract on Wednesday to construct a 3-million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) cement plant in Nepal.
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The regions is also one of the fastest growing in terms of cement consumption and that is what Dangote and other cement giants on the continent, including Dangote Cement, LafargeHolcim and Johannesburg-based PPC Ltd, are counting on as they inject more funds into new production plants. “I can assure you categorically that Africa will not lack cement now and even in the future…Africa will be self -sufficient rather than being a dumping ground for other manufacturers of cement”.
The plants to be built in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia, with another in Nepal, would add around 25 million tonnes to the company’s existing capacity of around 45 million tonnes, said Dangote.
The projects would include installation of equipment as well as mining, quarry and power facilities, according to Dangote.
“We are progressing very aggressively”, Dangote said.
Dangote, who recently commissioned his cement factory in Zambia, revealed his aspiration to produce about 100 million tonnes of cement by 2020. We were the first really big construction company to go ahead with a very large investment.
Lafarge Zambia is doubling capacity at its Lusaka plant in a €200m project as it seeks to capitalise on growing demand in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The World Bank’s worldwide Finance Corporation estimates that cement production capacity will need to increase between 10 million tonnes and 15 million tonnes a year over the next decade to meet demand across the continent.
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With 50 million t a year of cement capacity, LafargeHolcim is the largest producer in continental Africa. Two thirds of Sub-Saharan African countries have to import half of their cement.
