Dangote Cement considering new production lines in Edo, Obajana

Joe Makoju, the acting group chief executive of Dangote Cement, says the company is considering the possibility of two new production lines in Edo state and Obajana in Kogi state.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, he said the company will focus on building new grinding plants across the coast of West Africa.

“As it stands, I think we will focus on building new grinding plants along the coast of West Africa, and ensure we have clinker export facilities in Nigeria,” Makoju said.

“We are looking at the possibility of two new lines in Nigeria, perhaps by the end of 2020 and it is likely these will be in Edo state and Obajana, with a combined capacity of 6Mta.”

The company’s shareholders also approved the proposed dividend payment of N10.50 per 50k share, an increase of 23.5% on the N8.5 per share paid in 2017.

This represents 90% of its net profits as dividends.

Explaining how the company made a profit, Makoju said: “the increase was helped by our decision to increase our use of local coal in Nigeria and that also helped to improve our fuel security, maintain production uptime and it reduced our need for foreign currency.

“We source coal from our parent company, Dangote Industries and from another Nigerian supplier, and we are very happy with the way this has worked out for us because it has enabled us to phase out the use of expensive low pour fuel oil in our kilns and also to reduce our use of imported coal.”

Boniface Okezie, the president of Progressives Shareholders Association of Nigeria, said the shareholders are pleased with Aliko Dangote and his team.

He said the company’s ability to pay a robust dividend despite the 2016/2017 recession showed their fighting entrepreneurial spirit.

“We are very happy and pleased with this result. 2017 was very tough with the recession and fluctuation in the foreign exchange market which the chairman also said affected their operations, but despite all these challenges, the company was still able to pay us a very good dividend, better than last year, and even gave us hope of better returns on our investments in the years to come.”