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| Chairman of Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote. |
Africa’s largest cement Company, Dangote Cement recently opened its 1.5mtpa capacity cement plant in Mfila, Congo Brazzaville.
The $300
million plant is expected to create about 1000 direct employment
opportunities and thousands of several other indirect jobs.
Speaking at
the plant’s inauguration President Denis Sassou Nguesso said the
investment was an industrial revolution within the Economic Community of
the Central African States (CEMAC).
The
Congolese President described the opening of the Dangote cement plant as
timely and encouraging because it is starting operations at a time the
total government revenues have plummeted by 31.3% and revenues from the
oil sector have fallen 65.1% since 2015 due to a slide in global crude
prices.
Doubling cement production
Chairman of
Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote in his address said his company was
delighted to have completed the plant on schedule saying the addition of
Dangote Cement’s 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum plant has more
than doubled the total cement production capacity of Congo-Brazzaville,
which now stands at 2.550 million metric tonnes per annum, far in excess
of national demand.
“It is
envisaged that this will contribute substantially to the availability
and affordability of cement in the country and the Republic of the Congo
will no longer need to depend on imports to bridge the gap between
demand and supply.
Boosting the economy
“It is our
hope that the inauguration of the plant will boost Congo’s economy,
conserve foreign exchange that would otherwise have been spent on
imports for the country, and create employment opportunities down the
value chain,” he stated.
Dangote
commended the Congolese government noting that the bold economic reform
measures put in place by President Denis Sassou Nguesso administration
have been quite salutary.
“The
construction industry, which is a major sector of the economy, is a
beneficiary of his policies, and has been receiving the attention of
investors. We believe that our investment will contribute to
Congo-Brazzaville’s current economic renaissance under the leadership of
the President Nguesso.”
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