Dangote Cement said first-half profit rose 28 per cent as its pan-African expansion helps make up for “uncertainties” in its domestic market of Nigeria.

Net income was NGN121.8bn (US$614m) in the six months through June, compared with NGN95.4bn in the same period a year earlier. Sales rose 16 per cent to NGN242bn.

Group cement sales volumes were up 13.7 per cent YoY to 8.1Mt. Domestic cement sales in Nigeria fell 7.5 per cent to 6.3Mt. Nigeria margins were protected by new pricing, improved gas supply, and increased use of coal instead of LPFO.

The company has 40Mta of installed capacity across three cement plants in Nigeria, an import terminal in Ghana and new operations in Ethiopia, Zambia, South Africa, Senegal and Cameroon, it said. The group reported strong market share gains in South Africa and Senegal. New plants in Ethiopia and Zambia are now in production and are "making steady progress." Operations outside of Nigeria accounted for 22 per cent of total shipments in the first half of this year.

“The African expansion is now taking place very rapidly,” Van Der Weijde said. “From basically a pure Nigerian operation we are all of a sudden a Pan-African operation.”