President Olusegun Obasanjo will on May 12, formally commission the first phase of the multi billion naira Obajana Cement factory, which consists of lines 1 and 2.  
 
The president is also expected to lay the foundation stone of the second phase which will consist of lines 3 and 4. 
 
President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, recently said that the Obajana Cement project would save Nigeria approximately $385m (N50bn) in foreign exchange annually when completed. 
 
He made this known while addressing newsmen and stockbrokers on a facility tour of the cement company in Obajana, Kogi State, recently.  
 
Reputed to be the single largest plant in Africa, it has a capacity of 5Mta of cement.  

 
Nigeria, he said, currently consumes two million metric tonnes of cement annually, which is a far cry from the consumption rate in the Republic of Chad.  
 
"With the ban on the importation of cement by December 2006, even if we produce 20Mt it will be consumed. This is good for our economy as there will be competition which will ultimately bring down the price of cement," he said.  
 
Contributions from the Obajana Cement project,  Benue Cement Company (BCC), which the Dangote Group acquired from the federal government is expected to grow the group’s revenue to $2.5bn by 2007 and $3bn in 2010.  
 
The project, he added, would substantially reduce gas flaring and promote its use as a major source of fuel for industries.  
 
Raw materials for cement production (limestone, clay, marl, laterite Soil, laterite iron) are all available at its mine.  
 
The plant is equipped with a vertical roller mill capacity to grind oversized material, high capacity and low power consumption.  
 
Gas pipeline of approximately 90km long for supply of gas to the cement plant, power plant from Ajaokuta to Obajana and another power plant with 3 x 45 megawatt capacity (gas based).  
 
He added that "by using the latest and proven technology, we can achieve a pollution free environment, less fuel and power consumption due to high efficiency of our equipments."