Dangote to double Zambia cement investment to $900 mln

Dangote, Nigeria’s largest cement maker, plans to double investment in Zambia to around $900 million by building a second cement plant, the company’s vice-president said on Tuesday.

Dangote has already built one cement plant at a cost of $450 million in Masaiti, some 500 km (300 miles) north of Lusaka that is expected to produce 1.5 million tonnes of cement annually when it reaches full capacity by the end of this year.

“That’s also in progress and it will soon come up for commissioning,” Dangote group vice-president Sani Dangote told reporters, referring to the new plant.

“It will be of the same capacity as this plant,” Dangote said, without giving a time frame.

The power problems facing Africa’s second largest copper producer would not affect Dongote’s production because the company had built its own 30 megawatt power plant, he said.

Zambian power utility Zesco Ltd is limiting supplies after water levels at its hydro-electric plants dropped due to drought.

REUTERS