Displaying items by tag: Lafarge Africa

Nigeria: The first set of female drivers has graduated from the Lafarge Driving Institute (LDI) in Calabar, Cross River state. Lafarge Africa said that this demonstrated its commitment to enabling inclusive workplaces for women, professional gender diversity, road safety through training and the creation of local jobs. The LDI admitted 53 female trainees in March 2021.

The institute was launched in late 2017 in partnership with Lafarge Africa, Automated Integrated Services and the Federal Road Safety Corps. It was set up to improve driver quality and to ensure that heavy goods vehicles (HGV) are manned by professionals who have passed through a training programme.

For those not following the news in Nigeria, a nationwide row has broken out about the cost of cement in the country. Two of the three main local producers have been forced to publicly defend their pricing. Alongside this, the Senate of Nigeria has implored the federal government to encourage further local investment in cement production with the goal of keeping the end price down.

The current debacle started to take form in the autumn of 2020 when the price of cement leapt up by 35%. Builders and those immediately affected started complaining then but the argument really heated up in April 2021 when the local press started comparing the price of cement in Nigeria unfavourably against neighbouring countries. Dangote Cement, one of Africa’s largest cement producing companies and a Nigerian-based one at that, immediately defended itself by pointing out that its ex-factory price was the same or lower than in other African countries. It added that it could not control the price of cement between its factory and the end-consumer with dealers and middlemen benefiting from the gap. A week later the Senate of Nigeria intervened with its members discussing the issue in relation to a bill intended to liberalise the sector. This week, BUA Cement said publicly that it had no plans to raise the ex-factory price of its cement at the present time or in the future, “…barring any material, unforeseen circumstances.”

The roots of the current crisis go back to the mid-2010s when Nigeria declared itself ‘self-sufficient’ in cement after building up its domestic production capacity. At the same time it discouraged imports and embraced exports. Today, the country’s cement production capacity is around 49Mt/yr and annual demand is around 21Mt. This self-sufficiency path reached one milestone for Dangote Cement in 2020 with clinker exports starting from its Apapa terminal and the commissioning of its Onne Export Terminal in Port Harcourt. Under the old narrative for the sector this was a moment for congratulation. Suddenly though, instead of being seen as the saviour of the industry, members of the legislature were asking whether it was a good thing for Dangote Cement to hold a 60% share of the local market with most of the rest shared between Lafarge Africa and BUA Cement.

The price row has seen Dangote Cement promptly suspend exports from those new terminals. It also said it had reactivated its 4.5Mt/yr Gboko plant in Benue State, which was reportedly mothballed in 2018. It is worth noting here that the Gboko plant was part of that national capacity total above despite being mothballed until fairly recently. Aside from the middleman argument, the producer said that its production costs had risen over the past 15 months due to negative currency effects but that it hadn’t increased its ex-factory prices since December 2019.

A survey by the News Agency of Nigeria in the north-east of the country revealed all sorts of speculation about why the price was so high but few facts. Some of the opinions expressed included: the coronavirus outbreak; low production rates at the plants; market middlemen; and transport costs. What is clearer is that the country’s cement production capacity is more than double that of its demand. On paper at least the nation should be able to satisfy its own needs and then export the same again with plenty spare. Yet somehow this isn’t happening. If the government really believes in self-sufficiency it may be time to take another look at the cement sector, the challenges it faces and the needs of the end consumers.

Nigeria: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Africa plans to invest US$8m on an upgrade to the electrostatic precipitator filters at the bagging plant at its Ewekero cement plant. The Punch newspaper has reported that the upgrade requires a six-month shutdown of the unit’s kilns to make the changes. Chief executive officer Khaled El-Dokani said that the investment ‘underscores the company’s commitment’ to sustainability.

Ghana/Nigeria: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Africa plans to sell its 35% subsidiary Continental Blue Investment (CBI) Ghana. CBI Ghana runs the Supacem brand from the Tema Free Zone near Accra. It reportedly started building a cement grinding plant at the site in 2017 for a cost of US$55m.

Nigeria: The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has awarded Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme product quality certificates to Lafarge Africa. The certificates were presented after the company’s Mfamosing cement plant met confirmatory and standardisation requirements set by the SON, according to the Punch newspaper. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim said that the certifications further demonstrated its commitment to ensuring quality assurance and compliance with the relevant product standards within the regulatory framework of the government. The certification process followed a series of inspections and connected analysis.

Nigeria: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Africa has launched a national essay competition entitled “Building the Nigeria of My Dreams.” The competition is open to all primary and secondary school pupils. The producer says that it ’further affirms the company’s commitment to bridging the literacy gap in Nigeria.’ It said, “This will help improve literacy amongst young adults and also engender loyalty to the nation as they will write about their hopes and aspirations of the Nigerian nation they desire. The online essay competition aligns with reports that show that citizens do much better when they are literate as they become equipped to become better adults and even more successful in their careers.”

Chief executive officer (CEO) Khaled El-Dokani said, "We recognise that the depth and quality of a country’s human capital are as important as its physical infrastructure, hence our investment over the past seven years in enhancing the Nigerian educational sector just as we are committed to empowering Nigerians through our world class building solutions.” He continued, “One of our key sustainability priorities at Lafarge Africa is our commitment to our communities through education and we are actively collaborating with the government and the private sector to improve the country's literacy ratio towards making an impact in reducing the World Bank estimate which states that over 80% of Nigerian primary school leavers cannot read.”

Communications, public affairs and sustainable development director Folashade Ambrose-Medebem said, “We have so far impacted more than 700,000 primary school pupils in 1665 schools across 544 local government areas (LGAs). Our volunteers, who are employees of Lafarge Africa have spent over 6212hr with over 250 public primary students. This crucial involvement shows our genuine concerns about Nigeria’s literacy gap and commitment towards bridging that gap.”

Nigeria: Dangote Cement and Bua Cement have been allowed to export goods by land following a closure of land borders in mid 2019 due to smuggling. The government has granted permission for Dangote Cement to export its products to Niger and Togo, according to the Business Live newspaper. Bua Group has also received approval. However, Lafarge Africa has reportedly not yet received permission.

Nigeria: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Africa recorded sales worth US$471m in the first nine months of 2020, up by 10% year-on-year from US$427m in the corresponding period of 2019. Its recurring earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) increased by 15.7% to US$108m from US$93m.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Khaled El Dokani said, “Our robust results for the first nine months reflect the strong recovery of the demand in the third quarter and the successful implementation of our ‘Health, Cost & Ccash' initiatives.” He added that this was despite the impact of coronavirus and negative local currency effects.

Nigeria: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Africa says that it has signed an agreement with the Cross River State government to build a 38km concrete road connecting its local cement plant to the wider network. Chief executive officer (CEO) Khaled El Dokani said the project was a major contribution of Lafarge to the state at large with the purpose of making the roads safer for the citizens. The road is intended to divert trucks away from a nearby city centre once it is completed.

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has made a donation of US$1.29m to the battle against Covid-19 in Nigeria. Business Day news has reported that the money will go towards “various initiatives aimed at fighting the pandemic.” Lafarge Africa previously gave the use of three of its facilities and donated personal protective equipment (PPE) for the isolation and treatment of Coronavrius patients in April 2020.