Dangote heads to South America?

Dangote Cement plc is planning to build a presence in three South American countries, according to Nigeria’s economic newspaper Business Day, quoting Devakumar Edwin, Dangote’s CEO.

Mr Edwin said the company has signed a joint-venture agreement with an undisclosed regional firm. He also refused to name the three countries concerned, saying only that they “have enormous natural resources and experience high growth rates.” His reticence to offer further information he attributes to reasons of competition. “There are a lot of large cement industry agents in the region who can easily try to block the entry of new competitors,” he says.

The company is also expanding in Asia and has signed limestone mining rights in Indonesia and Nepal.

In other news, he also indicated that the group intends to introduce its entry to the London Stock Exchange for 2015, after the commissioning of its new cement plants in Cameroon, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia.