The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, at the weekend, disclosed the company’s fresh investment drive towards expanding the output from its Douala plant from the current 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) to over 3 mmtpa by investing in a similar plant in the vicinity of Yaounde.
Dangote during his recent visit to Cameroon met the Prime Minister Philemon Yang , minister of industry , mines and technological development Emmanuel Bonde and the minister of trade Luc magloire Mbarga Atangana, thanked the government for creating an enabling environment for cement production in the country.
He said the company is already in the process of signing a contract for the construction of the additional cement production line, in anticipation of a growing demand for cement occasioned by massive investment in infrastructure.
According to him: “The successful completion of Dangote Cement’s 1.5 mmtpa plant in Douala, Cameroon, made the country self-sufficient in cement production, as plans have commenced for the export of the product to neighboring countries soon.”
Aliko Dangote had also informed the prime Minister that the Group has already imported 220 trucks and trailers to resolve the present crisis of transport issues and now the cement can be deilivered directly to the customers in the villages and the effects of it will be visible in respect of availability of cement at the right places and as a result may lead to a price stabilization. The importation of trucks will be creating jobs up to 5000 either directly or indirectly.
After Dangote’s foray into cement production in Cameroon, where other operators are also active, local production of the product is now set to outpace local consumption which presently stands at 3.2 mmtpa.
Dangote however urged the Cameroonian government to continue to formulate policies that make investments thrive, saying such investment-friendly policies encouraged him to bring investment into Cameroon in the first place.
While commending the government for attracting investors into Cameroon, Dangote also appealed to them to consider creating an environment that will help protect and sustain the investment in order to ensure viability and good returns.
He said: “In this direction, we want to inform you that today with the commissioning of our plant, the total local production capacity is now 3.2 mmtpa. This is now sufficient to meet local demand and continued importation of cement into the local market in Cameroon will need to be reviewed, especially as the imports come mainly from countries who seem to have policies that encourage dumping of their excess capacity in other countries at highly subsidised prices.
“If there is a conducive environment that allows investment to thrive, the investors will be encouraged to reinvest in output expansion to meet rising demand. This is our policy everywhere we operate and Cameroon will not be an exception.”
He thanked the people and government for the warm welcome which was extended to his company when it first came seven years ago.
“We are proud to report to you, your excellency, that within the short period that we have been in the market, our 3x brand of cement is already recognised as the first choice for cement users in Cameroon because of its strength and high yield which translates to the best value for money,” he stated.
Prime Minister, expressed happiness at the completion of the Dangote Cement plant within a record time and stressed that the plant helped his government’s agenda of massive job creation.
Prime Minister said his government would continue to support genuine investors and urged other African entrepreneurs to invest in Africa as Dangote has done.
It would be recalled that the Dangote cement plant in Ethiopia was commissioned last month amid fanfare with the government expressing its appreciation to Dangote for deeming it fit to come to Ethiopia. Mr Dangote had requested the Prime Minister to grace the occasion of official commissioning of the plant within the next quarter.