WACEM gets financing for new 1 million t plant in Ghana

Western Diamond Cement SA (WACEM) Group is building a 1 million tpa cement plant in Egyam Bokro, near Takoradi in Ghana. The Group has recently received support in the form of a US$20.15 million loan deal with Stanbic Bank Ghana, which has worked with WACEM since 2011. When it enters into production in 2014, the plant will boost the country’s current capacity of 5.2 million tpa.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Head of Stanbic Corporate and Investment Banking Unit, Kwamina Asomaning, said: "Stanbic Bank CIB has consistently demonstrated its commitment to support Ghana's infrastructure base. Cement is crucial in any physical development agenda. Adding a fourth factory to the local cement production structure will mean more jobs to people, and improvement in incomes."

WACEM has two associate companies currently operating in Ghana, namely, Savanna Diamond Cement Limited (SDCL) in the Northern Region, and Diamond Cement Ghana Limited (DCGL) in the Volta Region, as well as plants in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, and two in the project stage in Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, respectively.

HeidelbergCement recently announced that it would be adding a new 0.8 million tpa cement mill to its grinding plant in Takoradi, and in November 2012 the company inaugurated a 1 million t cement mill at its grinding plant in Tema. Dr Bernd Scheifele, HeidelbergCement’s Chairman of the Board, spoke at the time of the ‘very high growth potential’ of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa ‘due to their early stage of industrialisation and rich natural resources’.

Edited from various sources by Katherine Guenioui.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/africa-middle-east/10052013/western_diamond_cement_agrees_loan_for_cement_plant_977/