By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Aliko Dangote says he will expand his operations in Cameroon, starting with oil and gas, then cement, making good his promise in January to leverage trade deal and open new channels under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He announced the Cameroonian deal after a meeting with President Paul Biya in Yaounde, where he also said the Dangote Group will raise cement production from its 1.5 million tonnes grinding plant in the country.
“We have plans to expand our investment to other sectors beginning with oil and gas,” he said, per Bloomberg.
Two weeks ago,the Dangote Group concluded plans to export its first shipment of fertilizer from its $2.5 billion plant at Lekki Free Zone in Lagos to the United States, and Brazil.
Dangote Refinery plans to meet Nigeria’s fuel needs with surplus to export for hard currency.
When the $15 billion integrated refinery is completed, it will produce 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and be the world’s biggest single-train facility.
It is expected to be completed this year after some delays and will generate 9,500 direct and 25,000 indirect jobs.
The refinery is designed to produce per day, among other items, petrol (50 million litres) of petrol and diesel (15 million litres), jet fuel (four million tonnes), besides raw material by-products from its fertilizer plant.
Leveraging on AfCFTA
Dangote announced in January that his cement company in Nigeria – with capacity for 29.3 metric tonnes per annum (mta) – would expand to Cameroon and new plants are billed for launch in Niger, Benin, Ghana, Cote D ‘Ivoire, and Togo.
Dangote said signing a $4.34 billion contract with Sinoma International Engineering Company, a Chinese construction giant, was part of the strategy to fulfil the desire for Africa’s self-sufficiency in cement production.
The contract is for the construction of 11 new cement plants in 10 African countries and in Nepal in Asia.
Dangote said the report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on the development of infrastructure to ensure competitiveness in AfCFTA spurred the company to leverage the deficit with its cement investment.
“For Dangote Industries Ltd, moving goods like cement by road from Nigeria where they are manufactured to Ghana, where there is a big market is “unviable”, hence the need for new plants that will open multiple trade routes,” he said.
Dangote Industries Group Executive Director, Devakumar Edwin, added that movement of products through road is expensive and Benin and Togo have complained about the pollution from trucks and stress on road infrastructure.
His words: “With the success of the Doula plant in Cameroon, the company is already doubling its capacity in Yaoundé and targeting three million tonnes in the country to check competition as well as earn foreign exchange.
“Our desire to increase our investment with the Phase 2 project is based on not only the fast growth rate of the Cameroonian economy but also due to the warm welcome extended to us and the enabling environment created by the government of Cameroon. Our choice of Cameroon for this multi-million-dollar investment is quite strategic.
“Cameroon is the largest economy in Central Africa and is well endowed with abundant natural resources, political stability, adequate security and growing infrastructural development.”
AfCFTA
After years of negotiations and delays, AfCFTA finally took off on January 1 creating a single market for the movement of capital, goods, people, and investment to deepen economic integration on continent.
AfCFTA, an agreement among 54 of 55 African Union (AU) countries, is the largest in the world in terms of the number of participating nations – since the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
