Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has concluded plans to invest roughly $60 million in Togo in the construction of a cement manufacturing facility.
According to news reports, the factory will be located in Lome, the capital city, and will have an annual production of 1.5 million tonnes. The plant will use clinker from Togo and Nigeria and will serve domestic and foreign demand from neighboring countries.
In a press statement issued on Sunday, Dangote Group said the construction of the Lome plant would start in the first quarter of 2020, with its inauguration expected before the end of the year. This will be Dangote’s first push into Togo and will put the company up against HeidelbergCement of Germany which is the dominant cement producer in the small West African country.
Dangote Group has also signed a partnership agreement with the Government of Togo to make fertilizer from the country’s phosphate. Togo, which has more than two billion tonnes of phosphate reserves, is one of the leading phosphate producers in Africa. The country’s enormous phosphate resources are mostly exported in raw form. Dangote’s new venture with the government would see the emergence of a new commercial entity to process some of that phosphate to make fertilizer in the country. The cost of the project is estimated to cost around $2 billion but it is not yet clear how much Dangote’s holding company will contribute to the new venture.
Aliko Dangote has a current net worth of $8.8 billion according to the Forbes‘ Real-TimeBillionairesrankings.
Credit: Mfonobong Nsehe