<;~ <'!HE r..tJAlIDJAN. Wednesda)l January26,20ll
44 JNDUSTRYWATCH
Dangote emerges Africa's top cement manufacturer nmGOTE Cement Pic has l..Iemerged as African's best cement manufacturer company with the presence of its plants in 14 aifferent African countries. The countries include: Zambia; Tanzania. South Africa. Congo (Brazzaville). Ethiopia. Cameroun (Grinding). Sierra Leone. Ivory Coast. Liberia. Ghana. Senegal among others. The move. according to the company was to ensure that African remains self路sufficient in cement production and making the products easily available and at highly affordable costs to the end users. It would be recalled that the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). a United States-based rating agency. listed the Dangote Group among the top 40 African Challengers. which are companies of African origin that have the potential to rival Fortune 500 Companies. Some of the criteria used in making the selection include size. growth and international expansion. Dangote Group has 13 subsidiaries spread all over Nigeria and it operates in over 14 African countries. All these enhanced its positive
rating. While a whopping $400 million was invested in Zambia for the construction of the plant. Dangote increased its stake in Sephaku Cement (Pty) Limited. which is based In South Africa. from 19.76 percent to 64 percent. with an investment of R779 million. The huge investment into Sephaku Cement by Dan~ote, is the largest ever foreign direct investment (FDl) by an African company
Zambia and Kenya. we will definitely go there. These 14 are purely in cement. But other countries are equally asking us to come and do some other things_" He also said. the group has also opened office in "in Dubai. in Gibraltar. in London, in China and we will soon be opening路 an . office in India." Lauding the Federal Government's backward integration policy. Dangote
into South Africa. Aliko Dangote. President of Dangote GrouP. commenting on the global expansion of his business. especially his cement arm. recently said: "By the middle of 2013. all our factories in Africa will be ready. We will be fully operational. manufacturing about 14 countries in Africa alone. The 14 factories are the ones on ground now. If there are opportunities in more countries. like in
said: "Some people grumble about cement manufacturing versus cement Imports. Fine. But let's look at It this way. The expectation is that Nigeria will be consuming about 20 million tonnes of cement next year. Twenty million tonnes next year will be. at least. even with the low prices abroad. about $2 billion. Why should Nigeria spend S2bn importing cement. it doesn't make sense; it doesn't make any
Ouattara to allow taxed cocoa beans shipped out of Ivory Coast
NOTAPto develop seven world-class brands From Betty Aderibigbe. Abuja '"J"HE National Office for 1 Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NorAP) has disclosed plans to facilitate the development of seven fully made in Nigeria products that will have international brand names by the year 2020. Speaking at the weekend while briefing the media. the Director General of NOTAP. Umar Bindir stated that his agency had identified the products and is working in collaboration with the other agencies concerned to move tile prototypes of the seven products into fully commercialise and create brand for them. He added that the seven products would cover Information and Communications Technology (leT). bioresources. sports equipment and agrieulture. According to him ....efforts made in the past have ended' up in creating jobs for other countries ana empowering their citizens by importing almost every thing while Nigerians are suffering at home with poverty and unemployment. said it is high time to stop such and develop our economy." He ilecried the attitude of many researchers in the country as he said most of their research outcomes stopped at the prototype level. according to a survey carried out by his agency, in NOTAP alone there are over 1.500 of such prototypes that didn't materialised into final products. "All our roads in Nigeria. even if it is by local compa路 nies. it is supported by foreign expertise. Most of the technical know-how in our banking sector are imported including major software. Almost 100 per cent of Our industrial machineries are all based on foreign technology. It is Important for us to domesticate these things internally because we have the infrastructure.
economic sense at all. "We have all the raw materials to produce enough cement here and Nigeria should be exporting cement to Cameroun. to Chad. to Ghana. Ghana consumes 4 million tonnes per year and they don't produce one bag. We should be self-sufficient in cement production here. which is going to happen by next year. Without government's favourable policy. there is no way we would achieve that. There were hitches in the last two years but we thank God government has reversed that to ensure the nation benefits from local production 01 cement."
The Director General of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON). Dr. John Akanya; and the President of Dangole 'Group Alhajl Aliko Dangote during the presentation of NIS. ISO. 9001. 2008 certllieate to the Pr.sident of Dangote Group Alhajl Allko Dangoto at the weekend. PHOTO: GABRIEL IKHAHON
Nestle to receive top environment award ESI1.E has been announced as the winner of the 27th World Environment Center (WEC) Gold Medal award for its commitment to environmental sustainability. Praised for its accomplishments in international cotporate ~ustainable deveiopment, Nestle will be presented the prestigiou~ prize at a presentation ceremony on May 19 in Washington D.C. The Company was praised for its environmt:ntar practices that are driven by its Creating Shared Value initiative. This is Nestle's way of doing business that focuses on specific areas of its core business activities; namely water. nutrition. and rural develojlment; where value is created both for society and the Company. Nestle Chief Executive Officer. Paul Bulcke said: "Nestle is delighted to receive this prestigious award. which recognises the efforts of many peopie working tirelessly over aecades. with the long-term
N
mindset to deliver best in tices which are integral to our class environmental manage- business. for example. we have built approximately 290 ment performance_" In explaining Nestle's envi- water treatment plants to ron mental efficiency. Mr date - significantly in develBulcke continued: "Our com- oping countries where mitment to sustainable busi- national and municipal ness practice is long-term in waste water treatment infraits perspective. comprehen- structure does not exist, or sive in its scope. and meticu- does not yet meet the Internalously managed in its tional environmental stanapproach. Sustainable man- dards that Nestle supports. In agement has given us the more recent years, we have solid base for our long-term also pioneered co-generation business develop-ment; by technology in our factories." Nestle has identified water as conSCiously identtfYing areas of focus where shareholders' its major environmental chaland society's interest strongly lenge. both in its own direct intersect. we can additionally operations and in its value optimize value creation for cnain. It has set a good exambOth parties. We are therefore ple by reducing water conhonoured and motivated to sumption over the past receive this distinguished decade by 33 per cent, while award." increasing its food and beverNestle's partnership with the age production volume by 63 International Water per cent. or a reduction of 59 Management Institute is help- per cent per kilo of product. ing to map water use in the In the same time period. the Punjab regIOn. . Company has cut the quantiHe added: "In committing to ty of water discharged from long-term sustainable prac- its factories into the ecosys-
tern - after treatment and removal of pollutants - by 42 per cent, or 65 per cent per kilo of product By setting its Sights on reducing consumption on a comparable basis by a further 1015 per cent over the next five years. Nestle has continued to roll out a number of watersaving projects and initiatives to combat water usage. As part of its efforts in many rural areas around the worla to improve water management in agriculture. Nestle last year completed a study in the Indian town of Moga. in alliance with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). This focused on the water footprint of milk and other local crops in the Moga Punjab region. where the study results will help local authorities and stakeholder to improve water efficiency and maximise the economic benefits from scarce resources.
Kenyan flour income falls 15 per cent last year on export disruptions VENYA'S flower earnings ~eclined 15 per cent last year after the global economIC slump curbed demand and disruptions in air traffic to European buyers slowed ship: ments. Kenya Flour Council Chairman Erastus Mureithi said. Flour income for Kenya. the largest exporter of the product to Europe. fell to 30.6 billion shillings ($378 million) in 2010 from 36 billion shillings a year earlier. Mureithi said in an interview on Monday in Bogoria. in the Rift Valley.
The volume of flowers produced was about 100.000 metric tons last year. almost on par with 2009 even as flights to Europe in April were cancelled for several days after a volcanic eruption In Iceland that spewed ash into the atmosphere. Heavy snow in parts of Europe in December again temporarily stopped air travel. while the glollal financial crisis reduced demand as people cutback on non"'ssen路 tial spending. he said. "We had to compost a lot of
<
flowers," Mureithi said. Dry weather may hamper the production of flowers this year in the East African nation. Mureithi said. In September. the Kenya Meteorological Department said the La Nina weather system may subdue rainfall through 2011. The March-toMay long rainy season typically brings heavy downpours. followed by a second round known as the short rains between October and December. "The biggest problem we
have at the moment is La Nina," said Mureithi. "The summer flowers are mostly going to be affected because small scale producers may not have access to water." Flower growing in Kenya employs 70.000 people including small-scale producers and workers on larger farms owned by companies such as James Finlay Limited, a unit of John Swire & Sons Limited. and Oserian. the largest producer of flowers in Kenya, he said.
r"QCOA beans that have ~been registered for export in Ivory Coast and taxed would be shipped out of the country. a spokesman for the internationally recognised president- elect. Alassane Ouattara. Patrick Achi has said. Ouattara ordered exporters in the country at the weekend. the world's biggest producer of the chocolate ingredient. to suspend all exports of cocoa and coffee for a month. While Ouattara is the internationally recognised winner of a November 28 election Laurent Gbagbo has refused to step down as preSident. "The export ban applies only to cocoa bean stocks that have not yet been the object of tax payments," Achi said in an interview from the commercial capital. Abidjan. yesterday. "We don't want the illegitimate government of Gbagbo to benefit from those taxes. Exporters store the cocoa that they buy and then declare the portion that they want to ship immediately. Those beans are then subject to registration and export taxes. Violence after the election and the political impasse has slowed registration of cocoa for export. That means there is a higher proportion of beans than normal that has yet to be declared for export. Cocoa for March delivery rose three pounds. or 0.1 per cent. to 2.193 pounds a metric ton on the NYSE qfft;.. exchange in London. . The price has risen 2 percent since the ban was announced and 17 per cent since the election. Ouattara's government will evaluate the ban in ,two weeks time and decide whether to extend it. Achi said. Exporters who flout it may have to pay taxes twice and could have their licenses canceled should Gbagbo fall from power. he said. "We are not going to recognize export payments to the illegitimate government of Gbagbo." he said_ "On top of that. we will consider revoking their export licenses once this crisis is over." Gbagbo's administration yesterday warned exporters not to comply with Ouattara's ban. If they do they "risk sanctions," said Ahoua Don Mello. an adviser to Gbagbo. in an interview.
<