Displaying items by tag: Nigeria
Dangote launches block moulding cement product
19 September 2018Nigeria: Dangote Cement has formally launched BlocMaster Cement product in Kano. The new cement product is described as ‘extra strong’ and targeted at block moulders, according to the Vanguard newspaper. At the official launch event Joe Makoju, the group managing director of Dangote Cement, said the new brand had followed ‘years’ of research and that it had been tested and approved by builders in the country.
Nigerian analysts blame earnings loss at Lafarge Africa on merger
17 September 2018Nigeria: Financial analysts Cordros Securities have blamed falling earnings at Lafarge Africa on the merger of its Nigerian businesses with Lafarge South Africa. In a research report the analysts found that the merger increased operating costs and reduced shareholder value, according to the Vanguard newspaper. Lafarge WAPCO’s earnings per share, earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and profit before tax have all fallen since 2013. It also found that operating costs had increased ‘significantly’ following the merger, debt had risen and that earnings had also been hit by efficiency issues.
Lafarge announced plants to merge its businesses in Nigeria and South Africa in 2014. The move saw the consolidation of Lafarge South Africa, United Cement Company of Nigeria, Ashakacem and Atlas Cement to Lafarge WAPCO. It was subsequently renamed Lafarge Africa.
BUA announces plant for Ebonyi State
06 September 2018Nigeria: BUA Group has announced that it will commence core drilling in Ebonyi State, prior to establishing a greenfield cement plant there. Speaking in the state capital Abakalik on 5 September 2018, BUA’s Managing Director Kabiru Rabiu said that he was surprised there was no cement plant already in the state, despite there being enormous limestone deposits. Ibeto Cement is in the process of setting up two integrated cement plants in the state.
"We are here because the state is blessed,” said Rabiu. “It has a huge deposit of limestone that is very high in quality. The state also has coal, which is necessary for cement production. The state is strategically located; it is close to Enugu, close to Cross River State and close to the Middle Belt.”
Dangote is most admired brand in Nigeria
04 September 2018Nigeria: Dangote Group is the most admired brand in Nigeria according to a survey of around 50 brands by marketing agency Brand Nigeria. Several variables such as innovation capacity, product quality, online presence, leadership and presence of products in the local market, have led Dangote to lead this ranking, according to the reserach team.
Loesche coal mill for Ewekoro plant
03 September 2018Nigeria: Lafarge Africa Plc, part of LafargeHolcim, is erecting a new coal grinding plant at its cement plant in Ewekoro, Nigeria, with Germany’s Loesche GmbH as the supplier. The plant previously used natural gas as its main fuel but inadequate local supplies meant that a change to coal was necessary. The order was made by the project’s general contractor, China’s CBMI Construction Company.
Local lignite and petcoke will be used as grinding materials. The grinding capacity for coal is 23t/hr at 23% R90µm and for petcoke it is 16t/hr at 3% R90µm.
The engineering, the core components of the mill and of the classifier with central feed, the rotary gate and the mill gearbox with a nominal power of 450kW are all included in the scope of service. Naturally, the reliable coal mill type corresponds to the ATEX standard to ensure safe operation. This is in line with LafargeHolcim's declared goal, defining health and safety as an overarching value.
UK/Nigeria: Aliko Dangote, the owner of Dangote Cement, has reiterated his intention to list the company on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), following a meeting with the UK Prime Minister Theresa May in Lagos. May was in the country as part of a multi-stop trade tour of African nations ahead of the UK’s departure from the European Union in March 2019. Dangote Cement is worth an estimated US$7bn.
During the visit May said, “Already the finance and business links between Lagos and London are bringing enormous benefits to businesses and people in the UK and in Nigeria. London is a world-leading financial centre and, as the UK leaves the European Union, it will play an even greater role in financing the fastest-growing economies across Africa and the world.”
CCNN to get new Managing Director
16 August 2018Nigeria: The Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) has announced the appointment of Yusuf Binji as its new Managing Director, effective 1 September 2018.
Prior to this appointment, Binji was the Managing Director of Obu Cement Company, a subsidiary of BUA Cement in Okpella, Edo State, a position he has held since February 2017.
Speaking on the appointment, Abdul Samad Rabiu, the Chairman of CCNN Board of Directors, said that Binji’s appointment was part of a restructuring effort aimed at further positioning the company for better business performance.
Binji brings with him almost 30 years experience garnered from the African cement industry, having worked with HeidelbergCement Africa, CCNN and BUA Cement in various capacities.
Binji is a chemical engineering graduate from Ahmadinejad Bello University, Nigeria and also studied at the University College, London, UK. He is a fellow of Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Solar Energy Society of Nigeria and the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers. He is also a registered engineer with the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and an associate member of the UK’s Institution of Chemical Engineers.
American boost for Nigercem
10 August 2018Nigeria: A team of US investors announced that it will seek to revitalise Nigercem, located in Nkalagu, Ebonyi State. Addressing a cross section of stakeholders on 9 August 2018, the Chief Executive of Ibeto Nigeria Limited, Chief Cletus Ibeto said, “I am standing before you with a team of American financiers, who are here on an assessment visit to the plant.”
In her remarks, the leader of the American foreign investors, Amanda Wester, said, “We extol Ibeto Nigeria Limited the core investor in Nigercem in its commitment to establish a new 6000t/day process cement plant and 45MW capacity power plant in this first phase of the project at Nkalagu.
US investors visit Nigercem cement plant
07 August 2018Nigeria: A group of investors from the US have visited Ibeto Cement’s Nigercem plant in Nkalagu. The visit was part of an assessment to prepare Ibeto Cement for a listing on a stock exchange in the US, according to the This Day newspaper. Cletus Madubugwu Ibeto, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ibeto Group said that Chinese contractors were due to work on upgrading the plant to a production capacity of 6000t/day with a 45MW waste heat recovery unit. In May 2018 Beta Cement signed an investment deal with US-based private equity firm Milost Global for US$850m.
Cement Company of Northern Nigeria appoints new directors
01 August 2018Nigeria: The Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) has appointed Khairat Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe and Shehu Abubakar as independent directors. It has also appointed Abbas Ahmad Gandi as a non-executive director of the company, according to the This Day newspaper.
Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe is a barrister and a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and the managing partner of A Abdulrazaq & Co, a legal firm. She obtained a B.A in European Studies and Spanish from the University of Wolverhampton, UK and the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain. She holds an LL.B from the University of Buckingham, UK and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986. She also holds a Masters Degree in Law (LL.M) from the University of Lagos. From 1999 to 2033 she was the senator for the Abuja Federal Capital Territory constituency.
Abubakar has worked for the banking industry from 1987 to 2017, recently retiring as an executive director of Keystone Bank. He has also been a director
on the boards of Global Bank of Liberia and KBL Health Care. He holds a B.Sc. (Business Management) from Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto and an MBA from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Gandi qualified as a chartered secretary from the Chelmer Institute of Higher Education, Chelmsford, UK. Amongst a career spanning two decades he worked as the Director General (Permanent Secretary) in the Sokoto State Civil Service. He was elected as a member of Constituent Assembly for the 1989 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. On his return from the Constituent Assembly he was appointed as sole administrator/chairman of Yabo Local Government Council in Sokoto State.