Africa: Chief Executive Officer at Dangote Cement, Devakumar Edwin said that the company plans to start operations in Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Zambia in 2014. Dangote, which has a production capacity of 20.3Mt/yr in Nigeria, also intends to add 9Mt/yr to production in Nigeria by the end of 2014.

Edwin said that Dangote is currently reviewing its operations in Kenya in light of the discovery of limestone deposits in the country. Dangote plans to increase the capacity of its proposed plant in Kenya from 1.5Mt/yr to 3.0Mt/yr.

"In Ethiopia, work is well underway to build 2.5Mt/yr plant at Mugher, with commissioning expected late in 2014. In Tanzania, we have begun work on a 3Mt/yr plant at Mtwara that will be operational in 2015. In Zambia, work is underway on a 1.5Mt/yr plant at Ndola with cement production expected in the second half of 2014," said Edwin.

The bid to expand is part of the company's long-term expansion strategy across the continent. Dangote has three plants in Nigeria and plans to expand into 13 other African nations, bringing its total capacity to more than 60Mt/yr by 2016. Edwin added that the company is stalling its business plan in South Sudan 'because of military conflict in that nation.'

Dangote recorded a turnover of US$2.3bn in the 2013 financial year, up by 29.4% from US$1.8bn in 2012. Profit before tax was US$1.18bn, compared with US$836m in 2012, while profit after tax rose to US$1.24bn, a 38.73% increase when compared to US$899m recorded in the same period of 2012.