As
part of the initiative to widen the access and improve on the availability of
cement in all parts of the country, Dangote Cement Ghana has procured 1,000
brand-new-trucks to facilitate the distribution of product into all parts of
Ghana.
With these, the
Company has commenced the process of recruitment of drivers, truck driver
assistants and loaders.
These trucks
which came in three different vessels arrived at the shores of Tema Port
between July 4 and July 8, 2016, according to the Company’s Media Relations
Manager, Mr. Etornam Komla.
“We’ve started the recruitment exercise and by the end of
July, all of the drivers will be on board,” Komla said.
The recruitment
exercise, according to Komla, is part of the company’s objective of
contributing to Ghana’s economic growth through job creation and honoring tax
obligations. “These are components of the Company’s mission in Ghana which is
to stimulate its economy.”
He said the company has also invested over $100 million in the construction of a new plant in Takoradi in the Western Region. The plant which will be a state of the art modern Cement Grinding Plant will have the capacity to produce about 1.5 million tonnes of cement per annum.
“This project when completed will further cement the presence of Dangote Cement business in Ghana and is a further proof of our commitment to the Infrastructural development of the country and will also enable us to meet the growing demands a ross other countries in West Africa.
Though, Cement
manufacturing has taken the centre stage of the businesses of Aliko Dangote,
the owner of the Dangote Cement Ghana, has recently made a foray into oila and
gas, investing in key industries such as Petrochemical, Refinery and Fertilizer
within Nigeria.
The Petro
Chemical complex where these plants are being built occupies a land complex in
excess of 2,100 hectares. These projects will cost in excess of $12 billion.
The Oil Refinery has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and over 3,000,000
Ammonia and Urea plants.
Mr. Dangote
told Reuters that these businesses will be ready between 2018 and 2019.
In addition,
there is a plan to build a 550KM Gas Pipeline across Nigeria and into West
Africa, Reuters adds.
Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with
44 million tonnes per annum (Mta) of capacity operational at the end of 2015 in
Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
Headquartered in Lagos, the Group is managed by an
executive team led by the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), who reports to
the Chairman and the Board of Directors.
Dangote Cement has three regions: Nigeria, West &
Central Africa and South & East Africa, each with its own CEO and CFO
reporting to the Group CEO and Group CFO respectively.
The Company that became Dangote Cement was founded at a
time when Nigeria was almost entirely dependent on imports. Indeed, importation
of cement was our main business for many years until the Federal Government
launched its industrial policy of Backward Integration in 2002.
This bold initiative was designed to reduce Nigeria’s
dependence on imports by encouraging the industry to build enough capacity to
serve Nigeria’s needs, not just in that decade but long into the future.
Probably Africa’s most attractive market for cement,
Nigeria has substantial limestone and energy resources, a large and
increasingly prosperous population, strong GDP growth and a pressing need to
improve infrastructure and housing on a massive scale.
We have invested billions of dollars building new
capacity that has singlehandedly helped Nigeria to become self-sufficient in
cement. In the process we have created thousands of jobs across the country in
factories, logistics, sales and support.
At 13.25Mta, our Obajana Cement Plant in Kogi State,
Nigeria, is the largest in Africa and one of the largest and most profitable
cement factories in the world. Employing thousands of people directly and
indirectly, it was opened in 2008 as a 5Mta plant and has twice been extended
in size.
Although Obajana is primarily gas-fuelled, we recently
commissioned coal facilities to fuel its kilns as well, being significantly
cheaper as a back-up fuel than the low-pour fuel oil (LPFO) we had originally
used.
Our Ibese Cement Plant in Ogun State has four gas-fired
cement lines with a combined capacity of 12Mta. Its first two lines were
inaugurated in February 2012 and the second pair of lines came onstream in late
2014. Like Obajana, Ibese is abandoning the use of LPFO in favour of coal.
Our Gboko Cement Plant in Benue State has 4Mta of
capacity. Acquired originally during the privatisation exercise in Nigeria, we
refurbished and upgraded the plant to its present capacity. Originally designed
to use LPFO, Gboko is being equipped with coal milling facilities so that its
kilns can run more cost-effectively on the cheaper fuel. Gboko was mothballed
throughout most of 2015 as we shifted production to cheaper gasfired lines at
Obajana and Ibese.
Over the past few years, the profitability and strong
cash generation of our operations in Nigeria have helped us to expand our
business across Sub-Saharan Africa with a mixture of integrated, grinding and
import facilities.
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