Group managing director of Dangote Cement plc-Joseph Makoju
Group managing director of Dangote Cement plc, Joseph Makoju, says the investments of the cement company and its expansion drive across African countries are strategic to contribute to Africa economy and make its products the most preferred by consumers.
He stated this at the weekend during a partnership visit and plant facility tour by top officials of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to the Ibese Cement Plant of the company in Ogun State.
According to Makoju, Dangote Cement is way ahead of competition in quality, volume production size and production automation saying these are parts of the results of continuous investments by the management.
Makoju, who was represented by the Dangote Cement national sales and distribution director, Adeyemi Fajobi, stated that besides the investments in expansion to ramp up volume, such investments had added value to the economies of the African countries where the company had presence.
To date, Fajobi disclosed that Dangote Cement operates in 14 countries in Africa with efforts on to expand to other three within the next few months to make its presence felt in 17 countries. The ultimate aim, he stated is to help other African countries to attain self-sufficiency.
“In the last ten years, Dangote cement has embarked on aggressive expansion drive which has seen it having an annual production of cement to the tune of over 29 million in its three production plants in Ibese, Obajana and Gboko thus effectively eliminating importation of cement”.
In his remark, director-general of SON, Osita Anthony Akpoloma, represented by Joseph Ugbaja, group head Building and Civil, said the partnership with the Dangote Cement was for the good of the industry and that so far Dangote Cement had been a leading light in the cement sector of the building industry.
He explained that SON relationship with Dangote dated back to the inception of Dangote Cement manufacturing in Nigeria, and that the SON had always visited the company’s plant on routine quarterly inspections.
