Dangote Cement Plans To Expand Production By 29%

Dangote Cement Plc has revealed plans to expand its production in Africa by 29 per cent.

The Chairman, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, said he was looking to boost cement output in Nigeria, Niger and Ivory Coast.

Dangote predicted a $30bn growth in the company’s revenue.

He said by expanding the company’s cement capacity on the continent to 62 million tonnes, he would entrench his flagship company’s position as the continent’s biggest producer of the construction material.

He added that there were plans to add six million tonnes in Nigeria next year, taking the volume in Dangote Cement’s Nigerian market to 35 million tones.

Dangote said, “The rest of the expansion is planned mainly in West Africa, including Niger and Cote d’Ivoire.”

He had told shareholders in June that the company planned to open plants in Nigeria that would allow it export clinker to grinding plants in Cameroon and West Africa.

Dangote, who is building one of the world’s biggest refineries in Lagos, in addition to investments in gas and petrochemical plants, said he expected total group revenue to grow to about $30bn from $4bn when the plants start operations in the next two years.

He said, “Thereafter, plans include investing about 60 per cent of profit outside Africa, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

“Sometimes in Africa you have issues of devaluation; we want to really preserve some of the family’s wealth.”

Dangote Cement had seen its profit for the first half of the year grow by six per cent to N119.5bn ($331m) while revenue fell by three per cent to N467.7bn.