Monday, March 30, 2015

ETHIOPIA: Dangote to inaugurate East Africa’s biggest cement factory in Ethiopia

Africa’s richest person, Aliko Dangote, is going to inaugurate East Africa’s biggest cement factory he built in Ethiopia at a cost of 500 million dollars.

A subsidiary company of Dangote Industries Group, Dangote Cement Ethiopia PLC, built a state-of-the-art cement factory in West Shoa Zone, Adaberga wereda, near Muger town, 85 km west of Addis Ababa. The factory lies on 134 hectares plot of land has the capacity to produce 2.5 million tons of cement. Teshome Lemma, country general manager of Dangote Cement, told The Reporter that the fully automated factory is the biggest cement factory in the East African region. According to Teshome, the factory produces OPC, PPC and special cement for dam construction.

Construction commenced in March, 2012 and is completed in two years time in unmatched pace by any company in Ethiopia. This has prompted state minister of Industry Tadesse Haile to write a letter of appreciation to Dangote Cement Ethiopia some months back.

Dangote first came to Ethiopia in 2008 to venture into cement production when the Ethiopian economy was starving for cement due to a construction boom in the country. Back then the dearth of cement supply compelled the government to import the bulk product with hard earned foreign currency. This triggered the government to invite foreign and local investors to build cement factories.

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