AFRICA: NIGERIA: FG inaugurates backward integration policy committee on cement

Engineer Joseph Makoju, special adviser to Aliko Dangote (second left) and Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ms Bolanle Onagoruwa, signing the certificates at the handover of Nigerian government’s 43 per cent equity in Onigbolo Cement Company, Benin Republic to Dangote Industries Limited. With them are Nigeria’s Ambassador to Benin Republic, Lawrence Akindele (first right), and L.G. Salami, an acting director at Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry (first left).

The Federal government has inaugurated a monitoring committee on the implementation of Backward Integration Policy on cement sub-sector.

While inaugurating the committee, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye, said the objective of the committee would be to ensure transparency and guarantee full implementation of the backward integration policy in the sub-sector. 

He said the setting up of the committee was proposed by stakeholders while its composition was based on equal representation from established manufacturing companies as well as importers that have initiated moves to establish integrated cement plants.

The minister said the committee would also be expected to ascertain the level of compliance to the policy by all investors in the cement industry and to verify the designed capacities of all cement manufacturing plants, including on-going cement projects.

The committee would also ascertain the present and the actual production capacities of all cement plants - manufacturing and terminal operations – as well as verify the extent of performance of bulk cement importers in the execution of the licence granted them.

Also, the committee would also suggest and recommend measures that would accelerate the attainment of self sufficiency in cement production in Nigeria as well as recommend measures that would guarantee stability and reduction in the market price of cement. 

The Committee comprises of the Director, Industrial Development Department, Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Chairman); Director Fiscal Department, Federal Ministry of Finance; representative of Raw Materials Research and Development Council, and Chairman of Cement Manufacturers Associations. Dr. Joseph Makoju. Others were representatives of Dangote Industries, Lafarge Cement WAPCO, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNW) Flour Mills Plc, Eastern Bulkcem Company and Ibeto Cement Company Limited.