In a deft move to consolidate on its leadership in the cement sector,<\/p>\n
Dangote Cement Plc has announced the commencement of the construction of
\nnew cement plants in two communities in the country.<\/p>\n
The new plants are expected to add 9 million metric tonnes per annum to
\nthe company\u2019s current local cement output of 29.25 million metric tonnes,
\nbringing it to a total of 38.25 million metric tonnes per annum.<\/p>\n
The company stated that the communities in which it is setting up the new
\nplants are Okpella in the northern part of Edo State, South-south of
\nNigeria with a three million per annum plant and another six million per
\nannum capacity plants in Itori in Ogun State, South-west of the country.<\/p>\n
The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dangote
\nCement Plc, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, who made the announcement in Lagos,
\nexplained that the Okpella plant will be made up of one line and will
\nproduce a total of 3 million metric tonnes per annum, and the Itori plant
\nwhich will deliver approximately 6 million tonnes per annum from two
\nprocution lines. Both plants are expected to come on stream within the
\nnext three years.<\/p>\n
Devakumar said the move by the company was to help expand the spread of
\nthe company’s manufacturing outfits, thereby reducing the transportation
\ncost component of their operations.
\nHe added that the new investments will further lower cost of production;
\nbring about future reductuon of the price of cement and also to generate
\nemployment opportunities for the youths of host communities.<\/p>\n
Also speaking at the event, the Group Managing Director, Cement, Dangote
\nIndustries Limited, Mr. Onne Vander Weijde, said the demand for cement was
\nstill high considering the level of population growth in Nigeria, saying
\nthat Nigeria\u2019s per capita consumption of the building material which is
\njust above 100kg per capita is relatively low, indicating a massive growth
\npotential.
\n\u201cThere has always been a surplus in demand because cement was not readily
\navailable, but ours is available and the prices are affordable. Consumer
\nprices have fallen by 35 per cent in naira terms, but if you take it in
\ndollar terms and relate it with today\u2019s parallel market rates, you will
\nrealise the price of the product has gone down in Nigeria, and in some
\ncases below the prevailing average global price.<\/p>\n
“This itself is a huge driver for increasing the per capita consumption,\u201d
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He said with the capacity of the\u00a0 plants in Nigeria, the company\u00a0 can
\nsupply the entire western and central Africa region, maintaining that
\ncurrently, Dangote cement is exporting cement to Niger, Ghana, Togo with
\nplans to move up to the Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria had always been an import-dependent country in terms of cement in
\nthe past and if we do not add up capacities, we will not be able to match
\nup the consumption rate in the country. We want to ensure that we are
\nalways one step ahead to meet the local demand for the commodity,” he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
According to him, the investments would create in excess of 5000 jobs at
\nthe beginning stage, noting that logistics and construction of the plants
\nwould also provide more employment opportunities indirectly to surpass
\nthat amount.<\/p>\n
In his remarks, the Special Adviser to the President of Dangote Group, Mr.
\nJoseph Makanju, said expectations were very high about cement price
\nreduction when the nation began building local cement production
\ncapacity.
\nHe noted that those price reduction expectations were now being met with
\ncement now selling at about N1,300 per 50kg bag, among the most affordable
\nin the world.
\n\u201cBefore now, cement was selling for over N2000. There is a lesson here to
\nlearn for the country and the media has a big role to play in this because
\nwhen you go through transformation by moving a country from being
\ndependent on import, there is need to encourage local investment to make
\nthose products being imported into the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am using this medium to appeal to the media by saying they have a huge
\nrole to play. You can refer to the cement story to educate the public. The
\nprice of cement has now come down to about N1300 in an environment where
\nall the input costs are going up. The achievement is actually bigger than
\nthe figures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Expressing the excitement of the community on the announcement of the
\ncommencement of the new plant in Okpella, a community leader from the
\ncommunity, Chief Calib Musa, said the Community had long awaited the move
\nby Dangote saying the Okpella people are happy and would give all the
\nnecessary cooperation to Dangote Cement.
\nSaid he, “The investment is a very welcomed development. Dangote has the
\nfull support of our people because we know that the initiative will be
\nbeneficial to us and the company as well”
\nHe stressed that communities around the world wish and pray for
\nopportunities like this to come to their way and Okpella leaders, people
\nand youths are happy with Dangote for his decision to contribute to the
\ndevelopment of our land.
\nChief Musa explained that the investment move was long due adding that all
\nthe noise about the community not supporting Dangote Cement was a ruse.
\n“We are happy with Dangote we want him to move very fast and we thank him
\nimmensely, ” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a deft move to consolidate on its leadership in the cement sector, Dangote Cement Plc has announced the commencement of the construction of new cement plants in two communities…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n