Displaying items by tag: Ohorongo Cement
Ohorongo Cement supplying cement to build St Helena airport
21 September 2015St Helena/Namibia: Ohorongo Cement has supplied 24,604t of cement towards the construction of the first-ever airport at St Helena island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It will continue to supply cement until the project is finished. The US$419m project is being developed by Basil Read and covers construction of the St Helena Airport and Permanent Wharf. Completion is planned by February 2016, according to local media.
Other projects the Namibian cement producer is supplying include the Husab Mine, Neckertal Dam, Walvis Bay Namport Harbour Project, an acid plant at Tsumeb and construction projects in Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The company enjoys infant industry protection awarded by the Namibian government in 2013 for eight years. It recently announced that the Development Bank of Namibia had increased its stake to 11.72%.
Ohorongo Cement donates 720 bags of Cement to Oshana
13 August 2015Namibia: The Oshana regional council has received 720 bags of cement from Ohorongo Cement, according to All Africa. The cement will be used for projects in the region.
The cement was delivered to the regional strategic warehouse at Uuwangula, some 10km outside Oshakati. Ompundja regional councillor Adolf Uunona, who spoke on behalf of Oshana governor Clemens Kashupuulwa, said that the cement would be distributed to 13 projects constructing water tank stands, halls and small bridges. Uunona praised Ohorongo Cement for investing more than US$1.12m by sending employees to Germany for training, facilitating education and job creation by supporting vocational training centres like the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology and offering internships and job attachments.
"The government needs to be commended for having succeeded in maintaining a positive business climate that has been conductive for growing Ohorongo Cement. I have been reliably informed that the company contributes more than 1% towards the country's gross domestic product (GDP)," said Uunona. The councillor also thanked Ohorongo Cement for giving back to society, especially to the rural areas where the majority of Namibians live.
General manager of Ohorongo Cement, Rudolf Coetzee, said that as part of the silver jubilee independence celebrations, the company committed to donate 720 bags of cement to each of the 14 regions of Namibia. "Even though Ohorongo Cement is still an infant within a brand new industry, it diligently strives to continuously contribute towards public-private-partnerships and support government initiatives like Vision 2030, Growth at Home and NDP4," said Coetzee.
Ohorongo Cement ups production
31 July 2015Namibia: Ohorongo Cement managing director Hans-Wilhelm Schütte said that the company has produced about 2.4Mt of cement for both local and foreign consumption in past five years, according to APANEWS. Cement production has grown since it first began at the site in December 2010.
Namibia: All Africa has reported that the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) plans to increase its stake in Ohorongo Cement, Namibia's only cement producer, in July 2015.
Foreign minority shareholders Development Bank of Southern Africa (which owns a 7.3% stake) and IDC of South Africa (which owns 20%) are in the process of selling their shares to Namibian institutional investors such as pension funds.
According to sources who preferred to stay anonymous, since the official announcement will only be made later this month, Germany's Schwenk Zement is the majority shareholder with a stake of around 60%. The official announcement is expected to be made on 29 July 2015 during the ground-breaking of the composite cement production plant and the inauguration of a training centre at Otavi, where the company's operations are based.
Namibia: Namibia's sole cement manufacturer, Ohorongo Cement, has said that 2015 has thus far seen tremendous results compared to all of its previous years. It started production in 2011.
Managing director Hans-Wilhelm Schutte attributed the much-improved performance to an increase in infrastructure projects by both the government and the private sector, as well as export inroads made in neighbouring countries. Schutte admitted that initial sales were 'extremely tough,' but was quick to add that the plant, which cost US$203m, has been running perfectly since comissioning and expects both local and regional sales to grow.
"Since 2011 we have improved significantly. Towards the second half of 2013 things really started picking up and 2014 saw us doing really well in terms of sales," said Schutte. He noted that large infrastructure projects such as NamPort's port expansion and the Neckartal dam have made notable contributions to Ohorongo's performance.
Ohorongo donates US$84,450 of cement to government
24 March 2015Namibia: Ohorongo Cement has donated US$84,450 of cement to the Namibian government. One truckload of cement will be donated to each of the country's 14 regions for the silver jubilee independence celebrations and the general development of Namibia.
According to the permanent secretary in the office of the prime minister and chairperson of the Independence Committee, Nangula Mbako, the cement will be handed to the governor of each region. The governors will be tasked in-house to identify a project within the region that they would like to use the cement for.
"The timing of this donation is perfect and the government is grateful to Ohorongo Cement for their contribution towards the development of Namibia and its people. It is a lot of cement," said Mbako.
"We want to make a difference and support our government to leave a lasting legacy for all Namibians," said Hans-Wilhelm Schütte, managing director of Ohorongo Cement. Besides the latest donation, Ohorongo Cement has invested US$548,928 as corporate social investment already since it began production, according to Schütte.
Namibia: Namibia's Ohorongo Cement plant plans to use blackthorn as biofuel for cement production. The company sources some 30% of its energy requirements from biofuel and plans to raise this figure to 80%.
"In the long term we will be very competitive," said Ohorongo Cement's chairman, Gerhard Hirth. Not having to rely on coal and oil imports, Ohorongo Cement will be able to keep energy costs down while making a positive contribution to the environment.
Hirth has invested US$340m in the 600,000t/yr capacity Ohorongo Cement plant. Some 500,000t/yr is sold on the domestic market and the rest is exported to Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Ohorongo Cement employs 330 people directly and 2500 indirectly.
Ohorongo Cement is currently under threat from a new market player. In order to side-step the 60% levy on cement imports into the country, a Chinese cement producer has recently begun operations at its own plant in Namibia. According to Hirth, Ohorongo Cement has lost more than Euro30m and is undertaking legal proceedings against its rival.