India: Jaiprakash Associates has defaulted on loans worth US$482m, which were due for repayment on 30 April 2023. The producer has total borrowings of US$3.57bn, repayable by 2037. It informed the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) that the outstanding debt is subject to on-going restructuring, but will reduce by US$2.21bn upon transfer of property belonging to Jaiprakash Associates to a shareholder-approved special purpose vehicle (SPV).

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.”

Iraq: Pakistan-based Attock Cement has scheduled an extraordinary general meeting in late May 2023 to approve the sale of a cement grinding plant at Khor Al-Zubair in Basra for around US$23m. It is preparing to sell a 60% share in the unit to a joint venture comprising Abdul Lateef Mohsin Al Geetan, an Iraqi national, and Lamassu Babylon General Trading Company, an organisation based in Dubai, UAE.

Tanzania: The government has defended its support for the acquisition of a majority stake in Tanga Cement by a subsidiary of Heidelberg Materials. In 2021 Scancem International, a subsidiary of Heidelberg Materials, agreed to buy a 68% share of Tanga Cement from AfriSam for around US$59m. The Fair Competition Commission (FCC) provisionally approved the deal but the Fair Competition Tribunal (FCT) blocked it in late 2022 following lobbying by Chalinze Cement and the Tanzania Consumer Advocacy Society on the grounds that it would potentially reduce market competition, according to the Citizen newspaper. However, Scancem International applied again to the FCC in December 2022 to push through the agreement. This motion was then approved in February 2023.

During a parliamentary debate on the issue in early May 2023 Ashatu Kijaji, the Minister for Industry and Trade, defended the decision to re-approve the deal on the grounds that the approved merger application was different from the one rejected by the FCT. However, other members of parliament were sceptical about the decision.