Business
Impressive Nine-Month Report: Dangote Cement Achieves 15.2% Pan-African Volume Growth
In the nine months leading up to September 30, 2023, Dangote Cement delivered a significant 15.2 percent increase in its pan-African volumes, surpassing the results from the same period in 2022.
Dangote Cement’s pan-African volumes represent sales from its plants situated outside Nigeria.
This surge was primarily driven by sales from specific plants, including:
a. Senegal: Achieving a remarkable 66.9 percent increase in sales.
b. Congo: Reporting a substantial 60.5 percent growth in volumes.
c. Zambia: Recording an 18 percent increase.
d. Ghana: Showing a strong growth of 15.5 percent.
e. South Africa: Achieving an impressive 18.5 percent increase.
f. Ethiopia and Tanzania: Both experiencing 6.5 percent growth.
Dangote Cement’s profit before tax rose by a substantial 20.5 percent, reaching N404.89 billion.
Meanwhile, profit after tax increased from N213.10 billion to N277.55 billion, indicating an impressive growth of 30.2 percent.
Arvind Pathak, the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement, attributed these positive results to a combination of strong value proposition, improved operational efficiency, and effective cost containment strategies in the face of rising inflation.
The company achieved double-digit growth in Group revenue, reaching ₦1,514.6 billion, and its EBITDA hit an all-time high of ₦662.8 billion, marking a 28.5 percent increase.
Dangote Cement’s pan-African operations have played a pivotal role, generating record revenue and EBITDA growth of 103.9 percent and 255.4 percent, respectively.
These operations contributed significantly, making up 41.9 percent of Group volumes.
The sustained demand across their countries of operation fueled this unprecedented growth.
Looking ahead, Dangote Cement is near the completion of its 1.5Mta grinding plant in Cote d’Ivoire, following the inauguration of the 0.45Mta Takoradi plant in the first half of the year.
The company’s focus remains on enhancing its value proposition, delivering high-quality cement to its dedicated customers, and exploring emerging opportunities and export strategies in the region to strengthen its overall performance.
Dangote Cement stands as Africa’s leading cement producer with an impressive 52.0Mta capacity across the continent.
As a fully integrated quarry-to-customer producer, the company boasts a production capacity of 35.25Mta in its home market, Nigeria.
Notably, the Obajana plant in Kogi state, Nigeria, is the largest in Africa with 16.25Mta of capacity across five lines.
The Ibese plant in Ogun State features four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12Mta, while the Gboko plant in Benue state offers 4Mta, and the Okpella plant in Edo state provides 3Mta.
Through substantial investments, Dangote Cement has successfully eliminated Nigeria’s reliance on imported cement and transformed the nation into an exporter, serving neighboring countries with high-quality cement.
Furthermore, Dangote Cement’s footprint extends to various African nations, including Cameroon (1.5Mta clinker grinding), Congo (1.5Mta), Ghana (2.0Mta import), Ethiopia (2.5Mta), Senegal (1.5Mta), Sierra Leone (0.5Mta import), South Africa (2.8Mta), Tanzania (3.0Mta), and Zambia (1.5Mta).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has cautioned Nigerians against the excessive desire for money.
The agency issued the advice in a terse post on its X handle on Sunday.
“Love money too much, and Ponzi schemes will love you …..as their next target….be guided, the Eagle loves you all,” the post read.
This is coming amid ongoing investigation into the alleged fraud perpetrated by a digital investment platform, CryptoBank Exchange (CBEX).
CBEX had reportedly crashed on April 14, leading to the loss of billions of naira belonging to Nigerian investors.
Several videos online had shown some Nigerians raising the alarm over the loss of their funds to the scheme.
The EFCC had on Friday declared eight persons wanted over their alleged involvement in a fraudulent scheme linked to the online trading platform.
The move came on the heels of the Federal High Court in Abuja granting the EFCC’s request to arrest and detain persons found promoting the CBEX scheme.
Justice Emeka Nwite, issued the order following submissions by the counsel for the EFCC, Fadila Yusuf, seeking the court’s approval to detain the promoters pending the conclusion of investigations into the alleged offences and their possible prosecution.
The EFCC stated that during the investigation, it found that ST Technologies, while registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, was not authorised by the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct investment activities.
Furthermore, it said the defendants had vacated their last known addresses in Lagos and Ogun States.
The EFCC had argued that a warrant of arrest was necessary to place the defendants on a red watch list to facilitate their capture and ensure they face charges.
The commission said its investigation had also established a prima facie case of an investment scam and that granting the application was in the interest of justice.
During an interview on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, on April 16, the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, advised Nigerians against investing in a business without considering the legal framework that regulates it.
Oyewale said, “We know that for every business concern, you declare your profit either quarterly, annually or bi-annually, but if somebody says, ‘Bring your money; I’m going to give you a return in 30 days,’ you know that is not realistic; it’s just not pragmatic.
“Or if somebody says, ‘If you bring your money, we’re going to give you a 100% return on investment,’ that is not possible”.
Nigerian carrier, Air Peace, has clarified why its Benin to Abuja flight P47171 was delayed in the air on Friday.
In a statement issued by the Head of Corporate Communications, Ejike Ndiulo, Air Peace Airline on Saturday stated that during the aircraft’s descent into Abuja, the flight encountered turbulence as a result of adverse weather conditions, including thunderstorms.
The statement further stressed that in line with global aviation safety standards, “our crew activated appropriate safety protocols and held in a holding pattern until weather conditions improved.”
Social media users complained on Saturday that the aircraft hung in the air longer than necessary before landing.
Elanza news understands that when an aircraft is held in a holding pattern, this means the plane was instructed to fly a specific course around a designated point while waiting for permission from the control tower to proceed with its planned route, approach, or landing.
This is often due to factors like traffic congestion at the given airport, weather delays, or other operational issues that could result in an incident or accident if the aircraft had landed against instructions.
In simpler terms, a holding pattern is a temporary waiting area for an aircraft in the air, allowing it to remain airborne while awaiting further instructions for landing.
The statement further stated, “We are pleased to confirm that the aircraft landed safely and the passengers disembarked normally. Air Peace is unwavering in its commitment to ensuring the highest standards of safety across all our operations.”
IMF to FG: Enhance transparency in oil sector, contain borrowing
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised Nigeria to enhance transparency in the oil sector to ensure that the subsidy removal savings are transferred to the government’s budget.
Abebe Selassie, the director of the African department at the IMF, gave the advice on Friday while presenting the findings of the Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa report at the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, DC, the United States.
Selassie was responding to questions on the federal government’s reforms and Nigeria’s debt profile, which currently sits at N142.3 trillion as at September 2024.
Speaking to journalists, the director said the fund has been very impressed by the reforms Nigeria has undertaken to address microeconomic imbalances in the country.
The director said the subsidy was taking “a very large” share of the limited tax revenues, which was not effectively used to help the most vulnerable people.
“So it’s been really good to see the government taking these head on, and also beginning to roll out the third component of the reforms that we’ve been advocating for, [that] government has been pursuing, which is to expand social protection to target generalised subsidies to help the most vulnerable,” he said.
“This has all been very good to see, but more can be done, particularly on the latter front: expanding social protection and also enhancing a lot more transparency in the oil sector, so that the removal of subsidies does translate into flow of revenue into government budget.
“So, there’s still a bit more work to do in these areas.”
Selassie disclosed that the IMF had a mission in Nigeria, where discussions with the authorities focused on issues related to the nation’s macroeconomic conditions.
Still, the director advised the federal government to consider reforms in other areas to engender more private sector investment, and also how more resources can be “adopted” to help Nigeria generate the revenues needed to build more schools, universities, and infrastructure.
“So there’s a comprehensive set of reforms that Nigeria can pursue that would help engender more growth and help diversify the economy away from reliance on oil,”
“And this diversification is all the more important given what we’re seeing happening to commodity prices.”
Selassie acknowledged that while the government is undertaking reforms, there will be a financing need.
He urged the authorities to adopt “a judicious and agile” way of dealing with the financing challenges the country faces.
The IMF official said Nigeria’s financing gap “can only be filled” by permanent sources such as revenue mobilisation in the long run.
“But in the interim, carefully looking at all of the options the country has to borrow in a contained way, will be part of that solution,” he said.
“And I think the government has been going about this prudently and cautiously so far, and we’re encouraged by that.”
In January, the Debt Management Office(DMO) said the total domestic debt was N73.4 trillion ($45.8 billion) while the total external debt was N68.8 trillion ($43 billion).
The debt body said the increase was primarily due to rising domestic borrowing and the impact of exchange rate depreciation on external debt when converted to naira terms.