New Zealand: Golden Bay Cement has announced that the second annual Girls in Infrastructure day will take place on 30 March 2021 at its cement plant. The event aims to encourage female secondary school pupils in Northland to consider a career in the infrastructure industry. The company said that attendees will see the day-day-to-day operations of the cement plant, as well as learning about other job opportunities along the supply line of infrastructure building.

Process engineering manager Kelly Stevens said, “Having the event on site at Golden Bay, the students are able to get up close to our operations, as well as talk to our staff directly.”

Nigeria: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge Africa plans to invest US$8m on an upgrade to the electrostatic precipitator filters at the bagging plant at its Ewekero cement plant. The Punch newspaper has reported that the upgrade requires a six-month shutdown of the unit’s kilns to make the changes. Chief executive officer Khaled El-Dokani said that the investment ‘underscores the company’s commitment’ to sustainability.

Uzbekistan: Russia-based Eurocement has begun the auction for its 84% stake in Akhangarancement. Sputnik News has reported the total value of the stake as US$40.8m. In February 2021, Sberbank announced the start of a sale for the cement producer and its subsidiaries with the announcement of a buyer planned for April 2021.

Ethiopia: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says that a new 7000t/day cement plant is almost ready for commissioning. New Business Ethiopia News has reported that the government hopes that the unnamed unit will be operational by June 2021. The 2.5Mt/yr Abay Cement plant at Dejen in Amhara region was previously scheduled for opening in 2021. The news comes at a time of rapid cement price rises in the country. A large black market has also arisen to serve overextended demand.