Displaying items by tag: Nigeria
Dangote Cement director resigns
26 November 2019Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s non-executive director Fideli Madavo has resigned from his position on the company’s board. Madavo represented the stakeholder Public Investment Corporation (PIC), South Africa’s state pension fund, where he is head of resources and portfolio manager for strategic and African listed investments. The company has not stated a reason for the change.
Nigeria: The Senate of Nigeria has urged the Federal Ministry of Transportation to complete the construction of the Ajaokuta - Otukpo railway line. The legislative chamber also advised the ministry to include a siding at Okaba to Ankpa as part of the project to make coal transportation easier, according to the Vanguard newspaper. Cement companies, including Dangote Cement’s Obajana plant and the Kogi State Super Cement Company at Allo-Itobe, would benefit from reduced coal prices. At present their coal is delivered by road. The railway project would also aid the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
Entec International wins contract with Lafarge Africa
19 November 2019Nigeria: UK-based Entec International has secured a contract to optimise maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supply chains for Lafarge Africa. The project will involve the consolidation of 125 separate suppliers into a single supply chain, which will be managed by Entec, operating in a single currency with standardised terms. No value for the deal has been disclosed.
“This is a great step for Entec, this contract opens up a new market with huge potential for us. We are delighted to be working with LafargeHolcim, whose commitment to innovation and environmental sustainability reflects our ethos at Entec,” said Entec sales director Charlie Patterson.
Patterson expects Entec to achieve a 12% reduction in freight, clearance and handling costs for Lafarge Africa in year one of the three to five-year contract. Supply chain consolidation is predicted to cut the number of shipments by more than half and will deliver a reduction in the volume of purchase orders and invoices currencies into a single currency, replacing multiple payment terms from different suppliers into a single payment term and converting multiple air freight shipments from Europe and China into consolidated ocean freight.
Entec specialises in saving costs and reducing complexity for client companies by managing their MRO supply chains. It has managed complex supply chains for manufacturers in over 70 different shipping destinations. Entec’s client base includes customers in the food and beverage packaging industries, oil, gas production, textile processing and mining and minerals sectors.
Dangote Cement announces Togo grinding plant
08 November 2019Togo: Nigerian-based Dangote Cement has received government clearance for construction of a 1.5Mt/yr grinding plant in Togo, its first in the country, at a cost of US$60m. When operational, it will bring Togo’s installed capacity to 5.7Mt/yr – 1.7Mt of it grinding only – and grind clinker from Nigeria and Togo. Agence Ecofin has reported that the sum is part of a raft of investments by Dangote Group in the country totalling US$3.47m and involving infrastructure and phosphate fertiliser production projects.
Abia Cement company signs memorandum of understanding with investors for 2.0Mt/yr integrated plant
05 November 2019Nigeria: Abia Cement, Russian-based Drobmash and Energomotor and Czech-based PSP Engineering signed a memorandum of understanding for construction of a 2.0Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Abia province at the first Russia-Africa Summit on 2 November 2019. The latter companies will supply equipment to the development, while Abia cement will receive an export loan from Russia’s Roseximbank.
Dangote Cement announces nine-month results 2019
01 November 2019Nigeria: Over a nine-month period to 30 September 2019 in which Dangote Cement increased its volumes by 1.1% to 18.0Mt from 17.8Mt in the corresponding period of 2018, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for Africa’s largest cement producer fell by 1.6% year-on-year to US$0.84bn from US$0.85bn. Group CEO Joe Makoju noted a year-on-year 0.6% increase in Nigerian volumes to 10.8Mt from 1.07Mt, as well growth in Tanzania and good sales in Senegal, as helping to offset ‘economic and operating challenges in key territories such as Ethiopia and South Africa.’
Dangote identified its Seven Sustainability Pillars for management as enabling it to realise its commitment to increasing value for all stakeholders. This may have contributed to its ranking second in Sub-Saharan Africa in Forbes’ Global 2000 World’s Best Employers.
Obu Cement prepares for CCNN merger
31 October 2019Nigeria: Obu Cement and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), both subsidiaries of BUA Group, are set to merge. Abdul Samad Rabiu, founder and executive chairman of BUA Group, said that the merger ‘marks the culmination of the first phase of the BUA mid-term strategic plan,’ which aims at deepening the domestic cement market and enhancing industry growth.
Rabiu stated that the completion of the 3Mt/yr integrated Sokota Kalambaina II cement plant and a 48MW power station, construction of which began in 2018, has been scheduled for the second half of 2020. In addition to its four existing plants, this will bring the group’s total integrated cement production capacity to 11Mt/yr.
Nigeria: Dangote Cement has extended its services agreement with US-based General Electric to the implementation of asset performance management (APM) digital products at its 12.5Mt/yr integrated Obajana cement plant and 12Mt/yr integrated Ibese cement plant, with the aim of unplanned downtime reduction. Dangote operations director Ravi Sood said that “Operational performance is crucial to a plant’s overall productivity, directly affecting end products. The introduction of GE’s latest digital solutions will improve efficiency and enable us to become more self-sufficient in power generation.”
CCNN donates cement to Wamakko communities
18 October 2019Nigeria: Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) has made a donation of 3000 bags of cement, equalling US$22,100 in value, to impoverished communities in Sokoto State’s Wamakko Local Government Area. CCNN corporate affairs manager Alhaji Sada Suleiman said that the donation, which is to help repair mosques, graveyards, public wells and Islamic schools, was part of the company’s corporate responsibility.
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa CEO Michael Puchercos re-introduced the company’s fast-setting and early-strengthening Supaset cement at a product launch in Lagos on 2 October 2019. The Guardian Nigeria has reported that the new and improved Supaset has been specially refined to suit climate conditions across the country. In line with the ‘Building for Growth’ pillar of its Strategy 2022, the cement is packaged in horizontal bags for ease of block making.