Displaying items by tag: Sierra Leone

This week Aliko Dangote retired as the chair of Dangote Cement. It’s a big deal, as Dangote founded parent company Dangote Industries in 1981 as an importer of bagged cement and other commodities such as rice, sugar, flour and salt. Over 40 years later Dangote Cement is the biggest cement company in Africa with a reported capacity of 52Mt/yr, operations in at least 10 countries and annual revenues of US$2.3bn. Dangote personally has also become Africa’s richest inhabitant along the way. It’s an extraordinary achievement.

As CEO Arvind Pathak, said in the company’s half-year report, “We celebrate our president, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who now steps down from the board, for his pivotal and transformative role in shaping the company’s growth, success, and lasting legacy. His visionary leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, and unwavering commitment laid the very foundation of our journey. Under his guidance, the company achieved remarkable milestones, expanded its footprint, and set new standards of excellence across the industry.” Dangote is aged 68 years and his successor as chair of Dangote Cement, Emmanuel Ikazoboh, is aged 76 years.

The key acquisitions started in 2000, when the company purchased a controlling stake in Benue Cement following its privatisation. Then, in 2002, it bought Obajana Cement and started up its first production line at the site by 2007. Obajana has since become the group’s largest plant in Nigeria with a production capacity of 16.3Mt/yr across four lines. The company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2010. Dangote Cement set up other plants in Nigeria and the Cement Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (CMAN) declared that the country was ‘self-sufficient’ in cement in 2012. Dangote the cement importer had become Dangote the cement producer. Then it became Dangote the cement exporter when it established its first overseas cement terminal in Ghana in 2011. Finally, it became Dangote the cement multinational when production plants outside of Nigeria started to be built in the early 2000s with units in Senegal and South Africa starting up in 2014. Today, in 2025, Dangote Cement has operations in Cameroon, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

Naturally, one doesn’t build a conglomerate as large and successful as Dangote Industries without dividing opinion along the way. Issues on the cement side of the business include criticism of how Dangote managed to beat his rivals to buy government-run cement companies in the early 2000s. To be fair to Dangote though, other companies including Blue Circle and HeidelbergCement did the same thing at this time. Arguments about this issue resurfaced publicly in 2022 when the Kogi State Government took Dangote Cement to court over its ownership of the Obajana plant in relation to tax revenue.

Another issue in Nigeria in recent years has been repeated arguments about the price of cement. Despite the country becoming ‘self-sufficient’ in cement, the cost has prompted scrutiny by legislators. Meanwhile, Dangote Cement has continued to make handsome profits year after year. Outside of Nigeria, Dangote’s expansion plans haven’t always gone smoothly. Its plans to open a plant in Kenya, for example, appear to have been stymied repeatedly. Infamously, Dangote himself allegedly described Kenya as being more corrupt than Nigeria to Kenyan media. A long heralded listing on the London Stock Exchange never happened and acquisitions outside of Africa are yet to occur. Looking forward, future challenges include newer entrants into the Sub-Saharan African cement such as those from China. A sign of challenges to come include the pending acquisition of Lafarge Africa by Huaxin Cement as China continues to attempt to export its cement production ambitions.

As Aliko Dangote steps down as chair from his cement business, the potential for both his company and the continent it is based in remains high. Demographic factors favour economic growth in Africa in the 21st Century due to its growing population and need for development. This will require plenty of cement and Dangote Cement is well positioned to supply it.

And finally… some people take up gardening in their retirement. Should Dangote become bored in his retirement from the cement business though he could consider the example of the former CEO of Ireland-based CRH. It was announced last week that Albert Manifold has been appointed as the chair of oil and gas company BP. Dangote Group already operates an oil refinery. Perhaps future opportunities beckon.

Sierra Leone: MACCEM will build a 0.56Mt/yr cement grinding plant in Hastings, Freetown, on a 4.4-hectare site near the Hastings Airstrip and the Jui-Masiaka Highway, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The site already houses the producer’s cement bagging plant, with civil works for the grinding plant underway. Site clearing and levelling were completed in July 2024. The remaining construction is expected to take 12-15 months.

Clinker for the plant will be imported and transported by road from the Queen Elizabeth II Quay at the Port of Freetown. The IFC is considering a debt financing package of up to US$24m.

Italy: The Italian cement association Federbeton has appointed Stefano Gallini as its president. He succeeds Roberto Callieri in the position.

Gallini is currently the CEO of Heidelberg Materials Italia, a role he assumed at the start of 2024. Before this he was the West African Region Managing Director for Heildelberg Materials and the Managing Director for Sierra Leone. Gallini previously worked for Italcementi from 2000 to 2017 becoming the company’s Chief Commercial Officer Egypt in 2010.

Gambia: Heidelberg Materials has sold its business in the Gambia to iron and steel products company B5 Plus. The business consists of the Banjul cement terminal. Heidelberg Materials says that it will continue to supply West African customers through its operations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia and Togo. The company sold its subsidiary in Sierra Leone in 2021.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement sales volumes in the first quarter of 2022 have been hampered by disruptions to gas supplies domestically and by high freight rates restricting its exports of cement and clinker to Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Its sales volumes of cement fell by 3.6% year-on-year to 7.25Mt in the first quarter of 2022 from 7.52Mt in the same period in 2021. Its revenue grew by 24% to US$994m from US$801m. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 18.6% to US$508m from US$428m.

Michael Pucheros, the chief executive officer of Dangote Cement, said “Our group volumes were down 3.6% mainly due to energy supply challenges in Nigeria. Our operations relying on cement and clinker imports – namely Ghana, Sierra-Leone, Cameroon - were impacted by the global supply chain challenges.” Additionally, its operations outside of Nigeria was also negatively affected by a cement plant in Congo being shut for over two months due to maintenance and repairs and extended power plant maintenance in Senegal.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s revenue grew by 33.8% year-on-year to US$3.33bn in 2021 from US$2.49bn in 2020. Its sales volumes rose by 13.8% to 29.3Mt from 25.7Mt driven by a strong domestic market, although international volume growth was strong. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 43.2% to US$1.65bn from US$1.15bn.

“Over the last two years, we have finalised the deployment of 6Mt new capacity in Nigeria. Looking ahead, we are now focused on a less capital-intensive expansion cycle, which includes building grinding plants across West and Central Africa to leverage and strengthen Dangote Cement’s regional integration. We are on track to deploy grinding capacity in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. In addition, our Alternative Fuel Project is at an advanced stage which aims to leverage waste management solutions, reduce CO₂ emissions, and source material locally. This year, we co-processed 89,000t of waste representing a 60% increase over 2020,” said chief executive officer Michel Puchercos.

The group noted that Cement demand in Nigeria was sustained by increasing housing infrastructure, commercial construction, and government projects including major highways, roads, and railways. In May 2021 it re-started exporting clinker from its Onne and Apapa terminals and delivered seven clinker shipments with a total volume of 197,000t in 2021. It also exported 706,000t in 2021 by road to Togo and Niger. Internationally, the group said that it performed well but it also faced challenges in Cameroon, Ghana and Sierra Leone, where freight costs had increased substantially, causing volatility in the landing cost of cement and clinker.

Sierra Leone: HeidelbergCement has agreed to sell its 50% stake in Sierra Leone Cement Corporation to Diamond Cement Group. Sierra Leone Cement Corporation's assets consist of the 500,000t/yr Freetown grinding plant. HeidelbergCement said that its regional activity will now focus on its key markets of Benin, Burkino Faso, the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Togo.

Liberia: President George Manneh Weah has written to the Liberian Senate to agree investment and incentive agreements between the government and Starr Cement. The cement producer intends to build a 0.6Mt/yr grinding plant, according to the New Dawn newspaper. The project will cost US$41m. The proposed plant will supply cement locally and to other countries in the Mano River Union, including Ivory Coast, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Nigeria: Domestic sales growth drove Dangote Cement’s financial results in 2018. Its local cement sales volumes grew by 11.4% year-on-year to 14.2Mt in 2019 from 12.7Mt in 2018. Sales in the rest of Africa remained stable at 9.4Mt. Sales revenue grew by 11.9% to US$1.71bn in Nigeria and by 9.6% to US$784m in the rest of Africa. Overall revenue grew by 11.9% to US$2.49bn from US$2.23bn. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 12.1% to US$1.20bn from US$1.07bn.

“This is a record financial performance by Dangote Cement, driven by a strong increase in our home market, Nigeria, despite heavy rains and uncertainties about the election,” said Joe Makoju, group chief executive officer. He added that, although Pan-African volumes were unchanged in 2018, he was confident that the group would see an increase in 2019, driven by higher volumes in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Congo and Sierra Leone. Elsewhere in Africa the cement producer said that plant shutdowns in Tanzania due to delays to a gas turbine installation, civil unrest in Ethiopia and a reduction of imports from Nigeria to Ghana had reduced its sales.

Nigeria: Domestic sales volumes of cement by Dangote Cement grew by 11.7% year-on-year to 10.8Mt in the first nine months of 2018, from 9.6Mt in the same period in 2017. However, sales in Sub-Saharan Africa grew slightly to 7Mt due to lower sales in Tanzania, disruptions due to civil unrest in Ethiopia and a reduction in exports from Nigeria to Ghana. This was mitigated by growing sales volumes in Zambia. Sierra Leone and the start-up of operations in the Republic of Congo. The cement company’s revenue rose by 13.5% to US$1.89bn from US$1.66bn and its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 14.6% to US$928m from US$810m.

“Nigerian sales were affected by serious flooding in September 2018 and although Pan-African sales were flat, we will see soon increased sales from Tanzania, now that its gas turbines are installed, and from Ethiopia as local community issues are resolved. We have launched new products in Nigeria that we believe will help us improve our leadership position in Africa’s most exciting market for cement,” said Joe Makoju, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO).