23 January 2024

Nigeria: Investor Femi Otedola has reported making a ‘significant acquisition’ of shares in Dangote Cement. The Premium Times newspaper has reported the value of the newly acquired shares as US$6.73m.

Femi Otedola said “Dangote Cement's unique position with two export terminals offers a substantial opportunity to earn foreign exchange, crucial for Nigeria's economy. This, along with the company's pan-African presence, makes it an ideal investment choice."

North America: Aker Carbon Capture and MAN Energy Solutions have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and CO₂ compression opportunities in North America. The collaboration will combine Aker Carbon Capture's amine capture technology with MAN Energy Solutions’ compressor technology to provide standardised and modularised solutions, with optimised energy consumption and delivery time. Both parties are currently participating in the Brevik capture and storage project with Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe in Norway. Rystad Energy has forecast potential capture capacity across North American industries of 200Mt/yr by 2030.

Aker Carbon Capture head of North America Jonah Margulis said "This agreement will strengthen our position to remove and reduce carbon emissions from industries and energy solutions, which is supported by strong incentives from the US government."

MAN Energy Solutions head of sales and project management, carbon capture and storage, Marco Ernst said "We are delighted to work with Aker Carbon Capture, which appreciates our comprehensive expertise in compressor solutions in general and in the area of CO₂ compression in particular. We feel encouraged by the high level of interest in our technical solution concepts that we are on the right path towards sustainable decarbonisation of the industries that have previously had particularly high emissions."

Nepal: The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Department of Mines and Geology and non-governmental organisation Technology and Action for Rural Advancement (TARA) for the adoption of limestone calcined clay (LC3) cement in Nepal. The parties say that LC3 cement can reduce CO₂ emissions by 40% and reduce coal consumption in cement production. Enewspolar News has reported that the Swiss Development Cooperation has previously supported the diffusion of the technology in the global cement sector.

Uzbekistan: Cement production was 11.1Mt nationally from January to November 2023, up by 2.5% year-on-year, according to Statistics Agency of Uzbekistan data. Trend News has reported that Uzbek Building Materials Producers’ Association expects annual production to eventually rise by 3Mt/yr after China Energy International Group Samarkand Cement commissions its upcoming Samarkand cement plant.

Germany/US: Concrete production equipment supplier TopWerk Group has formally endorsed Partanna Global's carbon-negative binder as a replacement for cement in the production of concrete using its equipment. Partanna plans to install TopWerk equipment at its four upcoming production plants, under an exclusive three-year agreement. The endorsement is intended to help shift TopWerk's global customers from using cement to using Partanna Global’s binder.

Partanna Global CEO Rick Fox said “TopWerk's endorsement of Partanna represents a major vote of confidence in our technology from one of the most respected names in global construction. We’re humbled and proud that one of the world’s leading concrete machinery producers has given us their backing. We hope this signals to the industry that Portland cement is no longer the only solution in town, and that the days of burning rocks are fast coming to an end.”

TopWerk CEO Robert Gruss said "We believe our exclusive partner Partanna has come up with a truly impressive solution that can contribute to putting this polluting practice to an end. The company’s carbon negative binder is one of the most exciting innovations we have witnessed in our industry for decades. It is the most advanced alternative binder solution in the market and the only credibly carbon negative solution that has the potential to scale globally. Over the last two years, we have rigorously tested their formula and have validated its application as a direct replacement solution for Portland cement. In many ways, their binder actually performs better than the legacy solution.”

The endorsement follows Saudi Arabia-based property developer ROSHN's announcement of an upcoming carbon-negative concrete plant that will use Partanna Global's technology earlier in January 2024.