Nigeria: Property firm Haven Homes Ltd is worried that the exorbitant price and low availability of cement in Nigeria will slow the pace of housing construction, lamenting that just a few firms have monopolised cement production.
"At the moment only Dangote Cement and Lafarge Cement are consistently producing cement in the entire country. For a population of 160 million that is not good enough, that sort of monopoly makes the product too expensive," said Tayo Sonuga, Haven Homes' managing director and CEO. "Cement is too important to be left to the vagaries of private or public monopoly. You cannot build without cement so the government cannot remain silent about this matter. It calls for urgent action."