Africa & The Middle East

Lafarge Africa recorded an 8% increase in profit after tax on a like-for-like basis.

On 5 and 6 March, HeidelbergCement held inauguration ceremonies for its new 1.5 million tpy Scantogo clinker plant in Togo and the 0.8 million tpy Cimburkina cement grinding plant in Burkina Faso.

According to a new report by Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Centre (CIC), the major economies in the Middle East and Africa plan to invest US$717 billion in power generation projects over the next few years.

ASEC Engineering has signed an O&M contract with National Cement Share Company for its plant in Dire Dawa.

The programme was developed by the American University in Cairo and ASEC Engineering, a subsidiary of Qalaa Holdings.

Lafarge’s Bamburi Group achieved higher turnover, operating profit and profit before tax in 2014.

PPC Zimbabwe’s new cement mill project is on course and investments are also being made in other plants.

The first PPC Imaginarium Awards were held last week, organised by PPC Ltd to celebrate young talent and the use of concrete in industrial design, film, fashion, jewellery, architecture and sculpture.

HeidelbergCement CEO Dr Bernd Scheifele told Bloomberg that Africa is an important part of the company’s ‘emerging markets exposure’.

Lebanon’s Cimenterie Nationale has joined the WBCSD CSI, an indication of its commitment to sustainable development.

FLSmidth will supply a range of equipment to Misr Cement Company’s plant in Egypt, located some 45 km from Luxor.

The shutdown of East Africa Portland Cement Company’s clinker and packing units resulted in a pretax loss of KES124 million in the six months to 31 December 2014.

The Ohorongo Cement plant in Namibia has recently received visits from the Zambian Deputy High Commissioner and the National Housing Enterprise.

Loesche is supporting non-profit organisation Charity: Water, with projects in Asia and Africa.

Qalaa Holdings’ Board of Directors has approved a capital increase of EGP1.7 billion, to be primarily funded through the capitalisation of liabilities resulting from the purchase of additional shares in core subsidiaries. An EGM will now be held to approve the increase in paid-in capital from EGP8 billion to EGP9.7 billion.