Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and president of the Dangote Group, says Nigeria’s has become the continent’s leading cement exporter thanks to strategic investments and increases in domestic cement capacity.
Mr Dangote said: “Nigeria used to be the second-largest importer of cement in the world,” he said. “Now we export more cement than any other African country.”
Dangote Cement is Africa’s largest cement producer, boasting a total installed capacity of 48.6Mta across the continent. It has a total of 32.3Mta in Nigeria, while the remaining 16.3Mta capacity is situated among Tanzania, South Africa, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Ghana, Senegal, Zambia and Sierra Leone.
Exports are a major source of revenue for Dangote Cement and last year it announced the dispatch of seven shipments of clinker from Nigeria to Ghana and Cameroon. The company also reported that clinker exports for the 1Q24 surged by 87.2 per cent, reaching 264,000t.
Sources within the company indicate that clinker exports are set to increase significantly in the coming months as Dangote Cement scales up operations and targets additional African destinations. Dangote Cement is currently expanding capacity in Nigeria. Its greenfield Itori cement plant is a 6Mta project, and the Objana plant has a 3Mta expansion project.
