This article looks at the cement sector, related statistics and recent news from 15 West African nations: Benin, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
West Africa encompasses 15 independent states, all of which were former colonies of western powers, mainly France and the UK. The majority gained independence in the 1950s and 1960s, although Liberia gained independence from the United States as early as 1847. By contrast, Guinea-Bissau did not gain independence from Portugal until 1974.
Since independence, several of the countries in the region have been politically unstable. In a number of cases, the power vacuum caused by the departure of colonial powers led to the re-emergence of competing interests along previous political and tribal lines. The emergence of one or other party led, in several states, to oppression of the opposition and a number of dictatorships. In some cases, military coups d’état brought an end to democratically-elected governments; in others they simply replaced existing dictators.
A broad transition towards more stable, multi-party democratic systems occurred in the early 1990s. Once again, this was often precipitated by the military seizing power from dictators, or those viewed as such. Today, the vast bulk of countries in the region are identified as presidential representative democratic republics (or close approximations), whether or not this holds true on the ground. Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, The Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone are ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) as ‘hybrid regimes.’ Such regimes incorporate the foundations of democracy, with some tendencies towards authoritarianism. Hybrid regimes may have governments that apply undue pressure to opposition groups, have non-independent judiciaries, widespread corruption and / or limited press freedom. Togo, Niger, Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau are ranked ‘Authoritarian’ by the EIU. Only Ghana, Senegal and Guinea are ranked as democracies, albeit flawed ones.
In West Africa coups remain a feature, with Guinea-Bissau (2008), Mauritania (2008), Niger (2010) and Mali (2012) seeing coups so far in the 21st Century. There have been failed coups in Benin (2013), The Gambia (2014) and Burkina Faso (2015). Despite the political situation, economic growth in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which includes all of the countries in this review except Mauritania, is strong. ECOWAS’ GDP average growth was 4.7%/yr from 2010 to 2017.
Cement industry - By country
Nine of the 15 countries covered by this review are home to 24 active integrated cement plants that share 75.4Mt/yr of capacity. There are a further 25 grinding plants currently in operation in 10 of the countries that add a further 26.7Mt/yr of capacity. The combined regional total is 102.1Mt/yr. All countries have domestic cement production capacity, except The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Most countries have capacities in the range of 1 - 10Mt/yr. The significant outlier is Nigeria, which has more than the others combined (58.9Mt/yr to 43.2Mt/yr). This information is broken down by country in Table 1.
Country | Integrated (Mt/yr) | Grinding (Mt/yr) | Total (Mt/yr) |
---|---|---|---|
Nigeria | 58.9 | - | 58.9 |
Ghana | 1.8 | 6.8 | 8.6 |
Senegal | 8 | - | 8 |
Ivory Coast | - | 6.9 | 6.9 |
Burkina Faso | 1.2 | 5.6 | 6.8 |
Togo | 3 | 1.2 | 4.2 |
Mauritania | - | 2.4 | 2.4 |
Benin | 2 | 0.3 | 2.3 |
Mali | - | 1.5 | 1.5 |
Guinea | - | 1.1 | 1.1 |
Liberia | - | 0.8 | 0.8 |
Niger | 0.5 | - | 0.5 |
Sierra Leone | - | 0.1 | 0.1 |
Above - Table 1: West African countries, ranked according to installed cement capacity in 2018. Source: Research towards Global Cement Directory 2019.
Cement industry - By company
There are 26 different cement producers in West Africa. The top six are shown in Table 2. Between them they share 74.3Mt/yr of the region’s capacity, around 73% of the total.
The largest producer is Dangote Cement, a rising regional player owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. The company has 30.0Mt/yr of capacity in Nigeria (28.5Mt/yr) and Senegal (1.5Mt/yr), as well as a 0.5Mt/yr plant that is under construction in Niger. It also has significant further capacity in the rest of Africa and has previously mooted projects
further afield.
While LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement and Vicat have capacity in West Africa, multinational players have a fairly small proportion of regional capacity compared to most other world regions. They share 33.6Mt/yr of active capacity, around a third of the regional total.The other players in the top six are BUA Group, which, like Dangote, is based in Nigeria, and Ghana-based WACEM.
Rank | Company | Capacity (Mt/yr) | Headquarters |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Dangote Cement | 30 | Nigeria |
2 | LafargeHolcim | 22.2 | Switzerland |
3 | HeidelbergCement | 7.4 | Germany |
4 | WACEM | 6.7 | Ghana |
5 = | BUA Group | 4 | Nigeria |
5 = | Vicat | 4 | France |
Benin
The Republic of Benin is located on the Bight of Benin between Nigeria to the east and Togo to the west. It gained independence from France in 1960 and has had its current constitution as a representative democracy since 1990.
Benin has three integrated cement plants that share >2Mt/yr of capacity, as well as a 0.2Mt/yr grinding plant. The largest producer in the country is Cimenterie du Benin, which operates the 1.3Mt/yr Masse plant. Société des Ciments d’Onigbolo, 50% owned by LafargeHolcim, is the second-largest. It operates a 0.7Mt/yr integrated plant in Cotonou. HeidelbergCement subsidiary Cimbenin also operates a 0.3Mt/yr plant in Cotonou based on ball mill technology from Fives FCB. Reda Cimenterie also operates an integrated cement plant in Cotonou.
Burkina Faso
Landlocked Burkina Faso is located to the north of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin. Known as Upper Volta until 1984, the country has been independent from France since 1960. In September 2015 the country saw a coup d’état by the Regiment of Presidential Security. However, the coup was reversed when its leader publicly apologised and vowed to restore the civilian government. Power was restored to the pre-existing President and Prime Minister after three weeks and fresh elections were held in November of the same year.
Burkina Faso has 1.2Mt/yr of integrated cement capacity from CIMFASO’s plant in the capital Ouagadougou. The plant is ultimately owned by Cim Metal Group. The company also operates a 2.1Mt/yr grinding plant in Ouagadougou, plus another 2.0Mt/yr plant at Bobo-Dioulasso.
HeidelbergCement operates the 0.8Mt/yr Cimburkina grinding plant at Kossodo. Cimburkina started upgrade work to the plant in February 2018. The US$2.85m project will centre on the installation of a new mill. This will more than double its production capacity to 2.0Mt/yr. Other works will include a new 2000t limestone silo and a new bagging unit. The new mill is scheduled to start production in December 2018.
Burkina Faso’s cement sector is set to grow even further in the coming months, with the construction of CIMAF’s grinding plant in Bobo-Dioulasso, which began in mid 2016. Construction of the plant drew complaints from local residents and business in July 2018. They had complained that dust from the plant might damage their crops. The plant was originally scheduled to be in production by the end of 2017.
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia is mainland Africa’s smallest nation, constituting a narrow strip of land to the north and south of the River Gambie. Other than a short Atlantic coast to the west, it is entirely encircled by neighbouring Senegal.
The Gambia gained independence from the UK in 1965 but has endured instability for significant periods. Long-standing President Dawda Jawara was ousted by Yaha Jammeh in a coup in 1994. Jammeh placed a ban on political opponents until 2001, although Jammeh continued to pressurise political opponents and the media until he himself was ousted in 2017. The country now has a new President in the form of Adama Barrow.
The Gambia has no cement production capacity within its borders. There is a single locally-based importer, Gacem, which has been part of Italcementi (now HeidelbergCement) since 1993. It imports cement via barge to its Kanifing, Greater Banjul factory, from where it is distributed in bulk and in bags.
Since 2017, LafargeHolcim Algeria has also been importing cement into The Gambia. It exported barges of approximately 30,000t each in December 2017, March 2018 and April 2018.
Salam Company is in the process of building a 0.25Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Banjul. The plant, which has a ball mill (Ø = 3m, L = 9.5m, Motor = 1250kW)is currently being constructed by Austria’s CEMTEC and will be operational in 2019.
Ghana
The Republic of Ghana is located between Togo to the east and Ivory Coast to the west, with Burkina Faso to the north. Ghana gained independence from the UK in 1957 and subsequently saw five coups between 1966 and 1981. However, in line with the trend towards greater democracy in the 1990s, the country’s first multi-party elections were held in 1992. They have since been held reliably every four years, with little disruption and no further military intervention. Today Ghana is one of the safest and most politically-stable countries in Africa.
Ghana has the second-largest cement sector among these 15 countries after Nigeria. It is home to 8.6Mt/yr of capacity from six grinding plants (5.8Mt/yr) and one integrated plants (1.8Mt/yr). The largest producer in Ghana is WACEM (4.2Mt/yr), which also controls subsidiaries elsewhere in West Africa. In Ghana WACEM operates a 1.8Mt/yr integrated cement plant at Buipe and three grinding plants at Volta (0.8Mt/yr), Takoradi (0.6Mt/yr) and Bokro (1.0Mt/yr). HeidelbergCement is the other main player in the Ghanaian cement market via its Ghacem subsidiary. It has 3.4Mt/yr of cement grinding capacity at Tema (2.2Mt/yr) and Takoradi (1.2Mt/yr). The third and final player as far as production capacity is concerned is Morocco-based CIMAF, which operates a 1.0Mt/yr grinding plant at Tema. Nigeria’s Dangote Cement also has an import terminal in Tema.
Ghana’s seven cement plants will soon be joined by two others. In August 2017 CBI Ghana began construction of a US$55m cement grinding plant at Tema. At the time it was publicised that the plant would take 12 months to build. Alongside this, Ghana and Iran are jointly building a 0.6Mt/yr cement plant at the Dawa Industrial Enclave, also near Tema. The plant, in which the Iranian government has a 90% stake, is scheduled for completion in late 2019.
In January 2018, Ghacem opened a 3000t cement terminal at Sefwi Dwenase in the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipality. The unit is the cement producer’s sixth terminal in the country.
Guinea
The Republic of Guinea is south of Senegal, south west of Mali, north of Sierra Leone and Liberia, west of Ivory Coast and east of Guinea-Bissau. It gained independence from France in 1958.
From 1984 to 2008 Guinea was ruled by Lansana Conté, who gained power in a military coup. The 1990s saw a moderate shift to greater civilian control, although multi-party elections held in 1993, from which Conté retained power, were marred by accusations of government tampering. Conté died in 2008, prompting a coup within six hours. Elections were held in 2010 but the political environment remains difficult.
Guinea has no integrated cement plants but has two grinding plants. The slightly larger is the 0.6Mt/yr Conakry plant run by Ciments de Guineé, a 59.9% LafargeHolcim subsidiary. A 0.5Mt/yr plant was established by Morocco’s CIMAF in Dubréka
in 2012.
Guinea-Bissau
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is the second-smallest country in this review after The Gambia. It is sandwiched between Senegal and Guinea. Having gained independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau endured a dictatorship for 20 years until its first multi-party elections in 1994. However, the military has sought to intervene over the years, including rogue soldiers assassinating the President João Vieira in 2009 and a coup in the capital in 2012.
Guinea-Bissau has no cement capacity of its own but this is set to change in 2018. CEMTEC is in the process of supplying a mill (Ø = 3m, L = 9.5m, Motor = 1250kW) for a 0.3Mt/yr grinding plant for CIMAF in Bissau. Plans for a grinding plant were also announced by Maxime Cardoz amd HeidelbergCement subsidiary Scancem in January 2015. The companies applied for US$25m of International Finance Corporation (IFC) funding but have since failed to report on the progress of the grinding plant, if any.
Ivory Coast
The Republic Côte d’Ivoire is a former French colony that borders Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and the Gulf of Guinea. It gained independence in 1960. Initially the country was something of a West African powerhouse becoming a major exporter of cocoa, palm oil and pineapples, albeit under a single-party political system. This lasted until a coup in 1999, with elections subsequently held in 2000 against a violent backdrop. Since then two civil wars and continued economic instability have stifled development.
Ivory Coast has four cement grinding plants that share a combined capacity of 6.9Mt/yr. The largest producer is Cim Ivoire, which operates a 2.9Mt/yr grinding plant in Abidjan. Also in Abidjan is LafargeHolcim, Ivory Coast’s second-largest cement producer. It expanded its grinding plant in Abidjan from 0.9Mt/yr to 2.0Mt/yr in February 2018 at a cost of US$28.5m. CIMAF operates a 1.0Mt/yr cement plant, again in Abidjan, as well as a 1.0Mt/yr mill in San Pedro from Austria’s CEMTEC. CEMTEC is currently in the process of adding a second 0.5Mt/yr line identical to the first. CIMAF is also in the process of constructing a 0.3Mt/yr mill in Bouake.
Also under construction is a 1.0Mt/yr plant by the Turkish Limak Group, once again in Abidjan. Commissioning is expected in the fourth quarter of 2018. Elsewhere, in March 2018, the West African Development Bank (Board) approved a loan for a cement plant project by Cim Ivoire to build a new 3.0Mt/yr plant, in Abidjan once more.
Liberia
The Republic of Liberia, literally meaning ‘land of freedom,’ is a notable exception to the familiar story of European colonialism within West Africa. The country gained independence from the United States in 1847 having been a refuge for former Afro-American slaves since 1822. The country was one of the most stable in Africa until 1980, when President Samuel Doe overthrew the government and adopted increasingly divisive policies. Political corruption, disputed elections and coups resulted in two civil wars (1989-1997 and 1999-2003). A transitional government was installed by the UN in 2003 and, since 2005, the country has once again held elections. The most recent was held in 2017.
Liberia has one cement grinding plant, which is located in the capital Monrovia. It is operated by Cemenco, an 81.67% HeidelbergCement subsidiary. The 0.8Mt/yr plant has been in operation since 1968. It produces Portland cement in 50kg bags and distributes them via a network of 30 distributors.
In December 2017 the Liberian government reviewed a US$41m investment proposal by Nigeria’s Dangote Cement that proposes the construction of a a 0.3Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Monrovia. The government is also attempting to get Liberia Steel and Cement Mining (LIMCEMCO) to build an integrated cement plant by way of a tax break. The status of both projects is unknown.
On 18 August 2018 Cemenco reduced the price of its cement from US$8.50/bag to US$6.85.bag, a 19.4% reduction. On 22 August 2018 the Chairman of the Cement Distributors Association (ACEMDAL), Varmah G Moore, said that Cemenco should reconsider the move, which was the result of discussions between the company and the Ministry of Commerce. He said that, while distributors did not object to the decision in principle as part of the government’s ‘pro-poor’ policy, ACEMDAL had not been included in the decision-making process and the price may not be appropriate for the market.
Mali
The land-locked Republic of Mali was formerly part of French West Africa and gained independence in 1960. It saw a bloodless coup in 1968, which led to the 23 year regime of President Moussa Traoré. In the 1970s and 1980s Traoré became increasingly authoritarian and dissenters were repressed during three failed coups. A fourth coup was successful in 1991. Relative stability followed for 20 years, but another coup in 2012 saw a return to conflict when seperatists demanded greater autonomy for northern Mali. The new government was forced from the region, which then rapidly fell to armed Islamic groups. France was called to help fight the Islamists in 2013 and the conflict only officially ended in April 2015.
Mali has two active cement grinding plants. Astro Cement’s 1.0Mt/yr plant at Kati is the larger of the two. The other is CIMAF Mali’s 0.5Mt/yr plant at Diago Koro, which was inaugurated in December 2016. Also in December 2016 the government agreed that Gaia Equity could build a 1.5Mt/yr integrated cement plant at Guinbané in collaboration with Chinese cement plant manufacturer Sinoma. The Invest in Mali website states that the plant will be active during the first half of 2019.
Mauritania
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a large nation in the west of the Sahara Desert. It gained independence from France in 1960. Until 1978 it was ruled by President Moktar Ould Daddah, who was ousted in a bloodless coup. A succession of military leaders ruled until elections in 1992, although these were not contested by the majority of opposition parties. A coup in August 2005 was followed by elections but then a further coup in 2008. Since 5 August 2009 the President has been Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. The next Presidential elections will be held in August 2019.
Mauritania has no integrated cement plants but has four grinding plants that share 2.4Mt/yr of capacity. Ciments de Mauritanie operates a 1.0Mt/yr grinding facility in Nouakchott. HeidelbergCement operates a 0.4Mt/yr grinding plant via its subsidiary MAFCI, also in Nouakchott. Vicat, via its 65% subsidiary BSA Ciment operates a 0.5Mt/yr plant, once again in Nouakchott. Nouakchott is also home to CIMAF’s 0.5Mt/yr CEMTEC-built plant, which came online in 2017.
Niger
The Republic of the Niger is a landlocked country named after the river of the same name. It is bordered by the similarly named Nigeria to the south, (as well as Benin), with Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east. It gained independence from France in 1960 and has since seen a series of coups in 1974, 1996, 1999 and 2010. It continues to fight Islamic groups with the help of foreign forces in the north of its territory.
Niger has one integrated cement plant, which is located in the south west of the country close to the Beninese border. It is a 0.5Mt/yr wet process facility operated by Société Nigeriénne de Cimenterie that has been in operation since 1964.
Dangote Cement is in the process of building a 1.5Mt/yr dry process integrated plant at Keita. Nouvelle Cimenterie de Niger (NCN) also plans to build a US$90m plant in Malbaza. Work at the unit was started in mid-2011 but was abandoned for
several years.
Dangote Cement imports cement into Niger from Nigeria. In March 2018 the first imports from Algeria were also received from the Aoulef cement plant in Afrar Province, albeit at an initially small quantity of just 950t.
Nigeria
The Federal Republic of Nigeria has the largest population in West Africa, with 186 million inhabitants in 2016. A former British colony, it gained independence in 1960, enjoying six years until a double coup in 1966. In 1967 - 1970 a civil war was fought after the country’s Eastern Province declared independence from Nigeria as the Republic of Biafra. After the war ended, Nigeria gained significant new income from oil sales under a series of military leaders until 1999, when the country entered a new, more democratic era. Elections in 1999, 2003 and 2007 were criticised for not being free and fair. The election of Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 was a far fairer affair, as was the election of Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
Cement sector
Nigeria has by far the largest cement industry in West Africa, with 12 integrated cement plants that have a total of 58.9Mt/yr of cement capacity. Another two integrated cement plants are under construction, which will add a further 7.5Mt/yr of capacity when completed. A grinding plant is also under construction.
Dangote dominates
Nigeria-based Dangote Cement is the largest cement producer in Nigeria, as well as in the rest of West Africa. It has three integrated plants in its home country, which share a combined 28.5Mt/yr of cement capacity. This is enough to give it a very dominant position in the local market, with 48% of national capacity. It is part of Dangote Group, a US$3bn turnover company involved in cement, flour production, sugar refining, energy, packaging construction, port management, petrochemicals and more.
Dangote Group acquired the Benue Cement Company from the Federal Government in 2000, and followed up with the acquisition of Obajana Cement Plc from the Kogi State Government in 2002, although the company had not completed its proposed cement plant since its founding 10 years earlier. Construction of the Obajana plant began in 2004. It was commissioned in 2007 with an initial capacity of 5Mt/yr. Obajana Cement Company changed its name to Dangote Cement in July 2010 and merged with Benue Cement in September of the same year. Dangote Cement was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in October 2010.
After consolidating its pan-African interests into Dangote Cement in May 2011, the company entered a phase of rapid expansion. It opened its 6Mt/yr Ibese plant in February 2012 and completed a 5Mt/yr expansion to the Obajana plant (increasing it to 10Mt/yr) in June 2012. The Ibese plant was expanded to 12Mt/yr in November 2014. In the same month Obajana was taken t0 12.5Mt/yr.
Since 2015 Dangote Cement has focused on pan-African expansion. It now has cement facilities in Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Zambia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Republic of the Congo.
In 2017 Dangote Cement’s sales revenue rose against a backdrop of lower cement sales volumes. Its revenue rose by 31% year-on-year to US$2.23bn in 2017 from US$1.70bn in 2016. However, sales volumes of cement in Nigeria itself fell by 15.9% to 12.7Mt from 15.1Mt.
“Although Nigerian volumes were lower in 2017, our Pan-African operations increased volumes by 8.4% and now make up 42% of the Group’s total cement sales, demonstrating the robust diversification of our business,” said Joe Makoju, Group CEO of Dangote Cement.
Regionally, Dangote said that its estimate for the total Nigerian cement market fell by 18% to 18.6Mt in 2017 due to a recession in the first half of the year and higher prices. It also noted that its Gboko plant in Benue State was mothballed for ‘most of the year.’
However, a recovery in the local economy drove improved performance in the first half of 2018, when Dangote’s sales revenue grew by 16.9% year-on-year to US$1.34bn from US$1.15bn. Revenue in Nigeria rose by 18.1% to US$959m and in the rest of Africa revenue rose by 11.4% to US$386m.
“Our first-half performance was very strong and driven by an excellent recovery in Nigeria, where our sales volumes increased by nearly 14% and revenues rose by more than 18%,” said Makoju. Earlier Makoju revealed that the company exported 0.21Mt of cement to Ghana, Togo and Niger from Nigeria in the first quarter of 2018.
Dangote Cement opened a terminal at Owerri in Imo State in July 2018. The unit was officially inaugurated by the governor of the state, Chief Rochas Okorocha, with Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote also in attendance. In a speech at the event, Dangote said that the state was one of the ‘major’ domestic markets for the company.
Other cement producers in Nigeria
The second-largest cement producer in Nigeria by installed capacity is LafargeHolcim, which holds stakes in Ashaka Cement (42.63%), Lafarge Africa (72.74%) and UNICEM (50%). Via these three it has a stake in cement plants with a total capacity of 18.9Mt/yr. Taking into account the various percentage stakes that LafargeHolcim has in each of these, we can calculate that LafargeHolcim benefits from around 10.0Mt/yr of this capacity.
Lafarge Africa, which has cement plants in Nigeria and South Africa, saw its sales rise by 36% year-on-year to US$835m in 2017 from US$613m in 2016. Its recurring earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) nearly doubled to US$161m from US$81m. CEO Michel Puchercos attributed the strong margins in its Nigerian business to cost initiatives and higher prices. He added that the company’s increased use of alternative fuels and coal to offset gas shortages in the west of Nigeria and a focus on coal and gas in the east and north of the country aided market share.
In March 2018 LafargeHolcim held a signing ceremony with Chinese cement plant manufacturer CBMI for a 5000t/day cement plant upgrade project at its Ewekoro plant in Ogun State. This will enlarge the plant from 1.1Mt/yr at present to 2.7Mt/yr once work is completed. Meanwhile Ashaka Cement plans to complete its 16MW captive power plant in early 2019. The subsidiary of Lafarge Africa and LafargeHolcim started the US$30.5m project in 2017. Once operational the power plant will supply power to the national grid as well as the cement plant.
The third-largest cement producer is BUA Group, which has 11.5Mt/yr of integrated cement capacity through Edo Cement (4.0Mt/yr) and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), which has 5.5Mt/yr of capacity at Sagamu, Ogun State, plus 2.0Mt/yr of production capacity via its Sokoto Cement subsidiary in Kalambania. BUA announced in late June 2018 that it would merge CCNN with Sokoto Cement, the plant of which has only recently been commissioned.
New plants
Ibeto Cement is in the process of building two integrated cement plants in Nigeria, at Enugu (2.2Mt/yr) and Effium (5.0Mt/yr), both in Ebonyi State. It has hired China’s Sinoma to build the plants. Ibeto secured US$850m of funding for the projects from Milost Global in May 2018. In addition, the Cross River Ministry of Solid Minerals Development announced that it was seeking investors to build a cement plant at Akamkpa in July 2017.
Senegal
The Republic of Senegal is located in the far west of Africa, surrounded by Mauritania to the north and north east, Mali to the east and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south. The country has an unusual U-shape, as it surrounds The Gambia on three sides.
Senegal is unusual within Africa in that it has experienced neither a coup d’état nor harsh authoritarian leadership. Since it gained independence from France in 1960, Senegal has been led by a series of democratically-elected Presidents, with elections held every five years. The incumbent is Macky Sall, who was elected in 2012 and 2017. Not everything has been plain sailing for Senegal, however. A protracted conflict took place between the government and separatists in the southern Casamance region (below The Gambia) between 1980 and 2004. Low-level disruption has continued once again in the region since 2006, although not with the previous level of intensity.
Senegal has the third-largest cement sector among these 15 countries, after Nigeria and Ghana. It has 8.0Mt/yr of capacity across three integrated plants. There are no grinding plants in the country. The largest producer by installed capacity is Vicat, which operates a 3.5Mt/yr plant via its SOCOCIM Industries subsidiary, which was established in 1948 as Société de Chaux et du Ciment. It was renamed as Société Commerciale du Ciment (SOCOCIM) Industries in 1978. It became part of Vicat in 1999. The current plant was constructed in 2008-2009 via a US$268m investment.
Ciments du Sahel operates a 3.0Mt/yr plant in the capital Dakar. It currently has two lines, with a third under construction that will take capacity to 5.9Mt/yr when it is commissioned. Dangote Cement operates a 1.5Mt/yr plant in Port Thiés. The Dangote plant was established in December 2014. This is also undergoing an expansion of 1.5Mt/yr.
All of these expansions will give rise to a national capacity of 12.4Mt/yr in the coming years. However, cement production was just 1.8Mt in the first half of 2018, a 5.6% rise compared to the same period of 2017. Local sales of cement grew by 50.6% to 1.28Mt from 0.85Mt. However, exports fell by 37% to 0.56Mt from 0.90Mt. It’s somewhat hard to imagine that all of the cement capacity will be required.
Sierra Leone
The Republic of Sierra Leone is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the south east and the Atlantic Ocean to the south west. A former British colony, it gained independence in 1961. Initial self-rule brought wealth under Sir Milton Margai, although the country slid gradually into authoritarian one-party rule under Milton’s half brother Sir Albert Margai before three back-to-back coups in 1967 and 1968. A one-party state was in force for much of the 1970s and 1980s and a brutal civil war was fought between 1991 and 2001. A return to civilian rule came in 2003 and some progress has since been made. The current President is Ernest Bai Koroma, who was elected in fair and free elections in 2007.
Sierra Leone has the smallest cement sector of the 13 countries here that have any cement capacity. HeidelbergCement operates a 0.1Mt/yr Fives FCB ball mill (Ø = 2.4m, L = 10m) at Cline Town, Freetown via its Sierra Leone Cement Corp (Leocem) plant. The plant site dates back to 1994. Dangote Cement has operated a 0.5Mt/yr bagging terminal in Sierra Leone since January 2017.
Togo
The Togolese Republic is located on the Gulf of Guinea (to the south) and is sandwiched between Benin to the east and Ghana to the west. It has a shorter northern border with Burkina Faso. A French colony unil 1960, Togo has been severely affected by military rule, coups and political infighting over the years. A period of relative stability has been observed in the years since ‘largely’ free and fair elections in 2007.
Togo has 4.2Mt/yr of cement capacity split across two integrated plants (3.0Mt/yr) and two grinding plants (1.2Mt/yr). The Togolese cement market is equally split in capacity terms between HeidelbergCement via its Scantogo subsidiary, and WACEM, via West African Cement and Fortia Cement. Each operates a separate 1.5Mt/yr integrated plant at Tabligbo. Each also operates a 0.6Mt/yr grinding plant: HeidelbergCement’s is at Lomé and WACEM’s is at Tabligbo.
Scancem, which became part of HeidelbergCement in 1999, has been involved in the Togolese market since the mid 1960s. The integrated plant was established by HeidelbergCement in March 2015.