Nigeria: Dangote Cement and Bua Cement have been allowed to export goods by land following a closure of land borders in mid 2019 due to smuggling. The government has granted permission for Dangote Cement to export its products to Niger and Togo, according to the Business Live newspaper. Bua Group has also received approval. However, Lafarge Africa has reportedly not yet received permission.

Tanzania: Mbeya Cement, part of LafargeHolcim Tanzania, has launched Lafarge Tembo Pozzi, a pozzolana-based cement product. It is intended to replace imports of fly ash, according to the Daily News newspaper. At present the country imports 40,000t/yr of fly ash for the construction industry.

Tanzania: Tanga Cement says that talks with the government about a new 0.5 – 0.75Mt/yr grinding plant in Arusha are progressing. Discussions about the project with the authorities originally started in 2016, according to the Daily News newspaper. At present the cement company transports cement to the region using a freight train that was recently inaugurated.

Chad: Idriss Déby, the president of Chad, says that Société Nationale de Ciment du Tchad’s (SONACIM) grinding plant at Baore will reopen in the next month. The government has paid the company a subsidy of US$9m to restart operations, according to the Alwihda newspaper. The price of cement will also be capped locally. The president previously asked SONCAIM to restart production at the unit in July 2020 following reports of cement shortages and price rises.