Displaying items by tag: Nigeria
Nigeria: BUA Cement plans to use loans worth US$500m towards the construction of two new 3Mt/yr cement plants in Sokoto State. When operational, the new plants will increase the producer's installed capacity by 55% to 17Mt/yr. Local press has reported that BUA Cement plans to run both cement plants using solar power, and to produce cement using alternative fuel (AF). Additionally, the producer will use a portion of the funding to replace part of its diesel-fuelled cement truck fleet with new natural gas-fuelled models.
Of a total US$500m in financing secured by BUA Cement on 5 June 2023, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) lent US$161m (32%) and African Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation and the German Investment Corporation jointly lent US$245m (49%), with the remainder advanced by institutional investors.
BUA Cement takes US$500m loan for expansion plans
06 June 2023Nigeria: BUA Cement has secures a new loan worth US$500m from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The producer informed the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) that it plans to use the fund for capital expenditure (CAPEX) investments in new projects.
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has opened a bag manufacturing unit at its Ewekoro cement plant in Ogun State. It has a bag production capacity of 105m/yr. The company says it is the first of its kind in the country. It is intended to increase the availability of bags through large-scale production locally. The project is a joint-venture run with MDV Industries.
Khaled El Dokani, the country chief executive officer for Lafarge Africa, said “We are using the best technology that produces the most efficient and durable bag in Nigeria. It is a very great day for us at Lafarge Africa.”
Nigeria: Dangote Cement recorded sales of US$609m during the first quarter of 2023, down by 13% year-on-year from US$699m during the first quarter of 2022. The producer reported a 25% decline in its cement sales volumes to 3.6Mt from 4.8Mt. Operating costs rose by 6% to US$355m from US$335m. Dangote Cement said that its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 14% to US$458m from US$403m.
Dangote Cement chief executive officer Arvind Pathak said “The cash crunch coupled with the uncertainty around the general elections led to a slowdown in key private and public infrastructure investments in Nigeria. Consequently, our domestic operations recorded a drop in volume." Pathak continued “In fulfilling our commitment to creating additional value for our shareholders, we have received regulatory approval for our second buyback programme. We will continue to monitor the evolving business environment and market conditions in making decisions on tranches."
Nigerian cement producers among group of manufacturers that spent around a quarter of revenue on raw materials in 2022
19 April 2023Nigeria: Raw material costs for a group of major local manufacturers – including BUA Cement, Dangote Cement and Lafarge Africa – accounted for 24% of revenue in 2022. The increase in the cost of raw materials was driven by a shortage of foreign currency, raw material availability, logistics issues at ports and rising energy costs, according to the This Day newspaper. BUA Cement’s spending on raw materials rose by 9% year-on-year to US$54.3m in 2022, Dangote Cement’s spend grew by 12% to US$427m and Lafarge Africa’s expenditure increased by 32% to US$106m. The other companies included as part of the grouping included BUA Foods, Nestlé Nigeria, Cadbury Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries and Dangote Sugar Refinery.
Nigeria: Authorities in Seme Customs Area say that Nigeria's exports of cement to Togo fell 75,000t below its target for 2022. The Sun newspaper reported that Nigeria-based Dangote Cement faced intense competition in the Togo market, leading to the shortfall for the year.
Dangote Cement increases revenues as cement sales drop in 2022
28 February 2023Nigeria: Dangote Cement recorded sales of US$3.49bn in 2022, up by 17% year-on-year from US$3.05bn in 2021. The producer's cement sales volumes fell by 5.1% year-on-year to 27.8Mt from 29.3Mt. Its selling and distribution costs rose by over 50% to US$643m, yet profit after tax also rose, by 4.9% to US$833m.
The Premium Times newspaper has reported that the producer invested US$543m in is subsidiaries throughout the year. The group said that most of this investment took place outside of Nigeria.
BUA Cement's earnings and profit rise in 2022
28 February 2023Nigeria: BUA Cement's gross earnings rose by 31% year-on-year to US$1.29bn in 2022 from US$981m in 2021. Meanwhile, the producer's net profit rose by 2.2% year-on-year to US$193m. The group said that increased bagged cement sales volumes offset the impacts of inflation and currency effects. BUA Cement's full-year finance costs were US$23m, up by a factor of six year-on-year.
Governership candidate pledges to restart Nigeria Cement Factory
16 February 2023Nigeria: Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate for governor of Ebonyi State, has pledged to revive the Nigeria Cement Factory at Nkalagu if elected in the forthcoming election. Odii said the successive administrations promised to revive the factory but failed to do so. Elections will be held on 11 March 2023.
Odii said, “As a governor, I will make sure the cement factory works, because many have promised to revamp the Nkalagu cement factory, but they failed. They failed because they lack the capacity. They failed because they are not entrepreneurs. I’m going to turn things around in Ebonyi state.”
Multiple awards for Lafarge Africa
15 February 2023Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has won different awards for its contributions and achievements in sustainability and environmental performance as well as its commitment towards gender inclusion and diversity in the workplace in 2022. These are: the Award for Sustainability Reporting at the 2022 NGX Made of Africa Awards; the Eco-friendly Cement Manufacturing Company of the Year Award at the Environmental Sustainability Conference, Expo, and Awards 2022 (ECOSEA); Environmental Sustainability Professional of the Year for Titilope Oguntuge, the company’s head for Sustainability & Corporate Branding, also at ECOSEA 2022 and; Most Outstanding Company in Gender Inclusion’ (Extractive Industry) at the Women in Marketing Communications Award (WIMCA) 2022.
Organisation and Human Resources director, Gbemiga Owolabi said “At Lafarge, we put people at the heart of everything we do, from promoting diversity in our teams to thriving with our communities, and this was evident in our results. We achieved a 47% representation on our board in 2022 which is a significant increase from 45.5% in 2021 and 40% in 2020.”