manufacturers, Dangote Cement Plc will next week Thursday commission its
2.5million mtpa cement plant in Ethiopia as the company inches towards the
mark of 40million mtpa total production capacity globally before the end
of 2015
Located in Mugher District, the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia. Prime Minister of the Mr. Haile Mariam Desalegne Is
expected to perform the opening ceremony at an event that will be graced
by top members of Nigeria business community.
A statement from the Dangote Group indicated that the government and the
people of Ethiopia are excited about the timely completion of the project
and the economic prospects of having such a huge company in that area of
the country.
An invitation letter sent by the Dangote Cement to the Chief Executive
Officer of one of the commercial banks showed that Nigerian guests would
be flown to Ethiopia next week Wednesday, June 3 to witness the event on
Thursday, June 5 and would be brought back to Nigeria on Friday, June 6.
The Dangote Cement plant said to be the single largest Investment by an
African will be the fifth in the series of the offshore plants of the
company that have rolled out cement within the last one year in African
continent, coming after Senegal, Cameroon, South Africa and Zambia.
Nine other countries are on the card as the cement plants are in various
stages of construction.
The company is investing $5 billion to build an African cement empire,
with factories plants in 14 African countries.
Recently, its $300 million Greenfield cement plant in Senegal rolled
products into the market in that country with the Senegalese government
promises all assistance a required for Dangote Cement to perform maximally
as its entry into the Senegal has stir up economic activities.
Nigeria Ambassador to Senegal and Mauritania, said “I am very proud of
what Dangote is doing by promoting intra -African investments, promoting
regional development, industrialisation and cohesion among African
nations with his investments. We need more Africans like Dangote to be at
the forefront of promoting intra- African investments,” she stated.
According to her, Dangote Cement has done Nigeria proud with the
commencement of production and that she was happy that Dangite Cement has
been instantly accepted in the marker because of the high quality grade.
Senegal Director of Mines, Ousmane Cisse, lauded the doggedness of the
Chairman of Dangote Cement; Aliko Dangote has seen the plant through
despite various setbacks.
“Dangote Cement is a great project for the country and the consumers. We
expect that the investments will not only make high quality cement
available to our people, it will increase the purchasing power of
consumers to help the country develop more and more.
Reduction of poverty
“As a government, we look forward to get more revenue from the sector, and
for our local communities surrounding the plant, more jobs that will
reduce poverty and generate more upstream and downstream activities. Our
SMEs will be developed and the multiplier effects on our industries, the
government and to all stakeholders will be beneficial,” he stated.