Displaying items by tag: Nigeria
Nigeria: In November 2013, FLSmidth signed a number of contracts with Dangote Cement for operation and maintenance of production lines at its Ibese and Obajana cement plants in Nigeria for five years. Due to changes to market conditions, Dangote and FLSmidth have reached an agreement to end the operation and maintenance collaboration at the two plants.
The discontinuation of the operation and maintenance contracts will have no impact on FLSmidth's Group guidance for 2015. However, the demobilisation in Nigeria will have a negative impact on earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) in the customer services division in the first quarter in 2015 of US$11.1m. Additionally, the order backlog was reduced by US$102m at the end of the first quarter of 2015 as a consequence of the agreement.
Ota pozzalana cement plant to be commissioned says Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute
29 April 2015Nigeria: A pozzalana cement pilot plant in Ota, Ogun State is to be commissioned following the installation of the plant. The plant is the first of its kind in Nigeria that can process pozzolana and it is being run by the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBBRI).
The NBBRI has coordinated with the Director of Building and Road Research in Ghana on the project through exchange programmes. Two pozzalana cement plants are being built in Nigeria, in Ota, Ogun and Bokkos, Plateau respectively.
Ashaka Cement announces resignations and new directors
01 April 2015Nigeria: Seven directors have resigned their appointments from the Board of Ashaka Cement with effect from 10 March 2015. Umaru Kwairanga (chairman), John William Stull (vice chairman), Sen. Muhammed A. Muhammed, Kolawole Babalola Jamodu, Abubakar Ali Gombe, Lamido Abba Tukur and Hamra Imam have all resigned.
The board has appointed Mallam Suleiman Yahyah as the new board chairman with effect from 12 March 2015. They also appointed three as non-executive directors, Anders Kristiansson, Edith Onwuchekwa and Rabiu Abdullahi Umar, with effect from 12 March 2015.
Ashaka Cement’s pre-tax profit rose by 84.5% in 2014
01 April 2015Nigeria: Lafarge Africa's Ashaka Cement's 2014 pre-tax profit rose by 84.5% year-on-year to US$26m. However, its revenue declined by 2.58% year-on-year to US$106m.
Dangote results take a dive in 2014
27 March 2015Nigeria: Dangote Cement's pretax profit fell by 3.2% to US$928m in 2014 due to a gas shortage at its plants and low demand after prolonged wet weather. The company, Africa's biggest cement company, said that sales volumes in its main Nigerian market fell by 3.2% to 12.87Mt, weaker than the decline in the overall market of 0.8% to 21Mt. It expected market growth in Nigeria to be muted in 2015 owing to election and currency worries, worsened by the fall in government revenues that have triggered by the plunge in world oil prices.
Dangote's full-year revenues for 2014 climbed to US$1.97bn during the 12 months to 31 December 2014, up from US$1.97bn in 2013, due to growth from Dangote's other African operations. It said that unreliable gas supplies to its Obajana plant constrained production, while prolonged rainfall in the second half of last year led to a slowdown in construction. Dangote is increasingly turning its attention from Nigeria to elsewhere in Africa. In 2015 it expects to commission new cement plants in Cameroon, Zambia, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
Dangote to build world’s biggest oil refinery
23 March 2015Nigeria: Aliko Dangote, president of Nigeria's largest cement producer Dangote Group, has announced that he is increasing his refinery's capacity to 650,000b/day. The move, according to petroleum industry analysts, will see Nigeria listed as having the largest petroleum refinery in the world.
Dangote said that the initial plan was to have 450,000b/day refining capacity, but that he has since opted for a bigger plant because he believes that Nigeria, as a leading producer of crude oil, should also be credited with local refining capacity. Currently, Nigeria produces crude oil, but has to buy refined products from abroad. Dangote Group executive director Devakumar Edwin said that the Dangote refinery was ready to reverse the trend. The refiner is expected to be fully operational by 2017.
Nigeria: Dangote Cement has announced the appointment of Onne Van der Weijde as its new managing director. According to Dangote, the appointment is in furtherance of the implementation of strategies put in place to drive operational efficiency, support its ambitious growth strategies and delivering shareholder value.
Van der Weijde, who has a wealth of experience from working as the managing director of India's Ambuja Cement, will ensure that strategic, operational and brand synergies are maintained, while underlining renewed management focus on all customer segments. He worked to improve the profit and consolidation of the business and was also responsible for the acquisition and growth in marketing and sales.
As a director and business planning manager of Holcim (Australia), he developed a business presence in southeast Asia through joint ventures and acquisitions, providing support in the management of existing operations in the region. In addition to his role as manager, he was also the COO of India's ACC and a member of the senior management team of Holcim. He also became the CFO of Holcim (Indonesia). He was responsible for treasury, reporting, business planning, accounts and procurements. Van der Weijde represented Holcim in Switzerland as the senior vice president. He managed the international tax, audit, marketing and IT functions of Holcim (Asia).
Dangote Cement appoints new CEO
27 January 2015Nigeria: Dangote Cement has appointed Onne van der Weijde as CEO, effective from 1 February 2015. Van der Weijde, ex-Holcim India head, will take the helm from Dangote Cement's Devakumar Edwin.
Ibeto and Nigercem ownership dispute continues
07 January 2015Nigeria: The Ebonyi State Government in Nigeria has warned Ibeto Cement Company over an alleged illegal entry into the premises of Nigercem cement premises located at Nkalagu. The entry was perceived as an act of provocation by governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State, as Nigercem is still subject of an ownership dispute in the courts.
"Following dispute between the State government and Ibeto Group on the ownership of Nigercem, Ebonyi State Government exercised its illegal right of land ownership by revoking the certificate of all the land upon which Nigercem is situated," said Elechi. "By going into the premises of Nigercem without the permission of the State Government, the Ibeto Group has demonstrated an alarming desire to acquire the God-given mineral wealth of Ebonyi people for its interest".
Eastern Bulkcem Nigeria Limited owns a 65% stake in Nigercem. The origins of the current dispute arise from Eastern Bulkcem's failure to modernise the ageing plant, instead opting to use its ownership of the plant to obtain import licences for bulk cement. The Ebonyi State Government resorted to extra-judicial means to shut it down, revoking Nigercem's certificate of occupancy pending a Judicial Commission to investigate the state of affairs in the company.
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa made a US$122m offer on 10 December 2014 to buy out minority shareholders in its Nigerian business, Ashaka Cement. The offer follows the US$1.35bn merger of Lafarge Africa's Nigerian and South African businesses, which received approval from shareholders in July 2014.
Lafarge Africa said that as part of the merger deal it had acquired a 30% stake in Ashaka Cement, the trigger point for making a full takeover bid under Nigeria's securities and takeover rules.
Under the terms of the offer, shareholders who accept it will receive 57 Lafarge Africa shares for every 202 held in Ashaka Cement and an additional cash payment of US$0.0111/share. The offer will run from 10 December 2014 to 16 January 2015. Shares in Ashaka Cement have gained 17% in 2014.
The consolidation will enable Lafarge, which faces intense competition in Africa, to accelerate growth on the continent. Lafarge Africa owns60% of Lafarge Wapco, its listed subsidiary in Nigeria, 58.6% of Ashaka Cement Plc and 100% of the Atlas cement company. In November 2014, Lafarge Africa entered into an agreement to buy a 30% stake in United Cement Company from Flour Mills of Nigeria, which will give Lafarge's Nigeria Cement Holdings complete control.