2nd March, 2011
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group has further expanded his investment profile in Africa with two projects worth $1bn in Senegal. The projects are in cement and sugar. The investment makes Dangote the biggest wholly African investor ever in the Francophone country.
Dangote Industries Senegal has already commenced work on construction of the 1 million tonne per annum cement plant on a 400-hectre land. The project is being built by Sinoma, the same Chinese company building the Dangote cement factory at Ibeshe, Ilaro, Ogun State. The plant, when fully installed, will have capacity to produce five million tonnes per annum.
Work started on the project in September 2010 and initial production of cement is expected to begin in December 2011. Ganapathy Balasubramanian, General Manager of the project, told Nigerian journalists at the plant site that with 80 per cent of all equipment imported from Europe at the site, civil works are about 60 per cent complete and the completion date remains unchanged.
The company will also soon be starting work on its sugar factory in the country. The Senegalese government has allocated Dangote Industries about 40,000 hectares of land for the purpose. The cement project is providing hundreds of jobs for Senegalese and more jobs are expected when work on the sugar factory begins.
As has been the norm at all Dangote project sites, Dangote Industries Senegal is building an independent power plant at the cement plant that will not only address the power supply problems there, it will also provide energy for the neighbouring communities. Director-General of Dangote Industries Senegal, Serigne Aramine Mbacke, commending Aliko Dangote for his vision and courage in investing in Senegal, hopes Dangote would assist Senegal in solving its power problems. Mbacke, who is also the Special Adviser to President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal on Foreign Investments, called on other Nigerian investors to emulate Aliko Dangote in exploiting the abundant resources that Senegal has.