Dangote starts work on 3mt/yr cement plant in Tanzania

Dangote Cement has started construction of a US$500m cement plant in Mtwara, Tanzania.

The 3million metric tonnes  per year  plant is expected to be completed by March 2015, company president Aliko Dangote said .

According to the business mogul, who is the current Africa's richest man, the  commencement of the Tanzania plant is part of the strategy of the group’s strategy to increase its cement production capacity to at least 29Mt/yr by 2015.

“Our investment in this sector, which is outside the traditional mining sector, is to take advantage of the abundance of limestone in the country and work towards making Tanzania self-sufficient in cement production. We must commend the government and people of Tanzania for recent public sector and banking reforms as well as revamped and new legislative frameworks, which have spurred private sector-driven investment,” said Dangote.

he preparations leading to the groundbreaking ceremony according to the statement, commenced in 2007 following discussions with the government of Tanzania by the Group and subsequent agreement on the proposed cement plant. The plant is expected to be completed within 22 months. Dangote said the commencement of the construction of the plant signposts another step forward in the Group and Tanzania's mutually beneficial business relationship, which will further strengthen the ties between the two countries.

Dangote Group had earlier in April unveiled its plans to invest about $ 3.9 billion in new cement plant projects both within and outside the country within the next few months, as part of its strategy to further strengthen its market dominance and to crash the price of the product.

Dangote Cement currently accounts for more than 50 per cent of the Nigerian market share.

The Group Executive Director, Business Development, Dangote Group, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, had said then while speaking at  a press conference  in Lagos, that the new cement lines would be   built in the following African countries namely: Ethiopia, Tanzania, Republic of Congo and Gabon. He added that the Group plans to construct a 3.0 million tonnes per year plant in South Africa and one grinding plant in Cameroon with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per year. Apart from the Cameroonian project, which will take up to 17 months to complete, he stated that all the others would be delivered within 27 months from the date of commencement.