AFRICA: NIGERIA: Dangote Reopens Gboko Cement Plant

The management of Dangote Cement Plc has announced the reopening of its Gboko Cement Plant in Benue State.

The factory which is to operate at half capacity was closed down last year as a result of the glut in the domestic cement market.

The decision to reopen the plant was reached immediately after a meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the Chairman of Dangote Cement Alhaji Aliko Dangote in Abuja.

Giving reasons for the reopening, a source in Dangote Cement said, “Since the shutdown of the Gboko Cement Plant, government has been engaging local cement manufacturers in discussions, trying to find solutions to the challenges facing the industry.

According to the source, Dangote was in an upbeat mood after the meeting with the president and in appreciation of the president’s concern and willingness to intervene; he gave immediate directives to restart operations at the Gboko Plant.

When contacted, the Group Head, Corporate Communications, Dangote Group, Tony Chiejina, confirmed the reopening and said, “We are confident that in the days ahead, we will see positive developments and actions that will address problems of local cement manufacturers in Nigeria.”

The management of Dangote Cement Plc recently temporarily closed down its four million metric tons per annum Gboko Plant, as a result of glut in the cement market.

Chiejina who confirmed this in Lagos, said the move was necessitated by the glut in the market.

He said the situation was compounded by the continued importation of subsidised cement into the country, adding that the production figure for the first eleven months of the year showed increased local production level with supply now surpassing demand.

Chiejina said total supply of cement to the market as at the end of November, when compared with the same period last year, showed a record increase of 11.4 per cent.

He said it was therefore disheartening to note that despite the glut in the local cement market, cement was still being imported, a development, Chiejina said, was at varience with government’s backward integration policy.

Giving the reason for the choice of BCC for a temporary shutdown, the Dangote Group’s image maker, said, “With the dumping of subsidised imported cement in the South Eastern market, there is no way our Gboko Cement plant can survive. In fact, staff have been put on forced leave pending when the situation improves.”