Dangote Cement - December 2014

Dangote’s Nigerian cement plants in Gboko, Ibese and Obajana have all received certification for ISO 9001 Quality Management System, ISO 14001 Environmental Management System and BS OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON). According to Dangote, the company and its subsidiaries would “continue to put in place policies that would enhance its compliance with regulatory issues as leaders in their respective industries”.

Meanwhile, Aliko Dangote has promised that his new cement plant in Cameroon will start production in early January 2015. Technical issues and delays at Doula Port have been blamed for repeatedly postponing the launch of the factory from January 2014 to August then finally October. But on a recent visit to the site, Mr Dangote confirmed that the new works was 90 per cent complete and the first bags of cement would hit the Cameroon market in a few weeks.

Elsewhere, the company has come under fire for “silently” increasing the price of its products. Despite announcing a dramatic reduction in the price of a 50kg bag to NGN1000 (US$5.40) just last month, distributors have reportedly been told to nudge this up to NGN1745. One distributor told local press, “When the company reduced the price to NGN1000, they were very quick to go to the press to announce it even through they were not even selling it at NGN1000 to we the distributors. They were selling it at NGN1150. But, as of yesterday (Monday 15 December), they had increased it to NGN1745.”