Categories: News

Dangote To Build 8 Additional Cement Plants in Africa

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote (pictured), signed contracts with China’s Sinoma International Engineering Co. to build cement plants in nine locations, reports Reuters.

On Wednesday, Dangote’s contracts with Sinoma totaled $4.3 billion to create cement plants in Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, and Mali as well as in Nepal.

While his company’s, Dangote Cement, current capacity is about 45 million tons, the new ventures would reportedly add 25 million tons to his capacity.

Speaking on the timeline of the project, Dangote said, “The projects are going to be delivered within the next 30 months.

“We are not going to stop there. By 2020, we are targeting 100 million tonnes.”

In addition to his success within Nigeria, Dangote has enjoyed increased profits outside of his homeland, with contribution to sales outside of Nigeria growing 11 percent from July 2014 to July 2015 due to cement plants already in Senegal, Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa, the Congo, Ethiopia, and Cameroon.

Dangote also runs cement terminals in Ghana, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, and Liberia.

Dangote’s business isn’t only focused on cement, though.

His company also produces fertilizer, food, and invests in oil refineries.

China’s most-recent headlines haven’t been as positive, though. In fact, their well-publicized economic and oil woes have been affecting its business with Africa.

Speaking to this reality, Dangote explained why he — as well as his numerous businesses — aren’t dramatically affected by China’s struggles.

“Of course we are affected,” he said, “but we are not badly affected because we are not 100 percent in oil.

“We are a fully diversified company. So today if oil is doing [badly] it doesn’t mean we are doing [badly], and that’s the good thing about diversification.”

Abena Agyeman-Fisher

Abena Agyeman-Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Face2Face Africa. Most recently, she worked for Interactive One as the Senior Editor of NewsOne, she worked for AOL as the News Programming Manager of Black Voices, which later became HuffPo Black Voices, and for the New York Times Company as an Associate Health Editor. Abena, a Spelman College graduate, has been published in Al Jazeera, the Daily Beast, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, the Grio, BlackVoices, West Orange Patch, About.com, the Source, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Jane, and Upscale Magazines. She has interviewed top celebrities, icons, and politicians, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Civil Rights activist and diplomat Andrew Young, comedian Bill Cosby, Grammy Award-winning singer Jill Scott, actress and singer Queen Latifah, Olympic Gold winner Cullen Jones, international supermodel Alek Wek, and five-division world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather. Most recently, she served as the First Lady’s press reporter during President Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Summit, Young African Leaders Institute event, and the 2013 presidential trip to Senegal, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Tanzania. Abena is also a 2015 International Women's Media Foundation Africa Great Lakes Fellow, where she reported on women candidates and Chinese sweatshops in Tanzania for CNN and Refinery29.