Giant Cement Factory set for Completion

Last week the Ministry of Industry (MoI) wrote a letter of appreciation to the richest African, Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote group, after the company reported the 60 per cent completion of its cement factory.

According to the MoI, the Dangote Industries plant has been in construction for the past six months, completing some 60 percent of the civil work, including 15 percent undertaken in the first phase. The MoI said that Dangote is targeting production of 2.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of cement, with an investment outlay of USD 400 million. The factory is situated in Muger town, near the capital Addis Ababa, where the long-standing Muger Cement factory resides.

In a letter written to Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Tadesse Haile, minister of state for the MoI, said that the progress report submitted was more than just promising.

By the third quarter of 2014, Dangote will emerge as one of the biggest ventures in the continent and will be a huge presence in East Africa, where Tanzania has recently concluded similar deals with the transnational.

When it becomes operational, Dangote Industries will provide almost half of the country’s supply, which is currently estimated to be 2.4 mtpa, way below the demand of 8 mtpa.

In the coming three years, the giant will amass total production of around 60 mtpa from the Ethiopian and  newly commissioned USD 500 million Tanzanian projects, with aspirations to invest in 13 African states.