Africa & The Middle East

Macmahon Holdings Ltd is to undertake quarrying operations at UniCem’s 2.5 million tpa cement plant near Calabar, Nigeria.

A new 6 million tpa Dangote cement plant in Ibese, Ogun State, will soon be inaugurated.

Bamburi Cement and Athi River Mining are expected to realise higher cash return from their operations in the next three years.

Michel Folliet, Chief Industry Specialist for IFC Building Materials Sector, explains how IFC is contributing to sustainable growth in the cement industry across the emerging markets of Middle East and North Africa.

The East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has return to the profit zone thanks to a new tax credit, despite a loss of earnings from the weakening of the Kenyan shilling against the Japanese yen.

Expecting to single-handedly surpass Nigeria’s entire 17 million tpa cement need before the end of next year, the Dangote Group reports that its capitalisation has reached US$15 billion.

Saudi Cement Company said net profits for the third quarter rose by more than a third against the same period last year, though results were down against the second quarter.

In Zambia, Zambezi Portland Cement Limited (ZPC) has reportedly increased production from 1100 tpd to 1300 tpd.

Nigeria continues its progress towards becoming self-sufficient in cement production, and Nigeria giant Dangote signs investment agreements in Ethiopia and the DRC.

As part of its southern African expansion, PPC has acquired three aggregate quarries from Quarries of Botswana for US$6.8 million.

BankMuscat has agreed to two loans totalling more than OMR25.77 million for the cement manufacturer.

FLSmidth has received four minerals orders, worth approximately €40 million each, from a company in the Middle East

Paul Maxwell-Cook takes a look at the economic developments in Oman impacting the cement industry.

Cameroon and Dangote Group recently signed a US$115 million investment agreement for the construction of a composite cement production plant, which will result in the production of 1.5 million tpa of cement in Douala, Cameroon.

According to an Equity Research Cement Sector survey, Tanzania's cement production is expected to exceed the region rate of 13% and grow by 18% by the end of this year.