New 1.5Mta cement plant for Mali

Mali's government and Gaia Equity Ltd have signed on 16 September a memorandum of understanding and an establishment agreement for the construction of a 1.5Mta cement plant in the country. The CFA200bn (US$330m) works will be built Guimbané, Diéma, in the Kayes region.

The new plant is part of the government’s efforts to establish an industrial base in the country, according to the Minister of Industrial Development, Mohamed Aly Ag Ibrahim. “… it is a realisation of part of the vision of the president in the strengthening of our industrial base, the valuation of our local raw materials, promotion of employment and the fight against poverty”, he said.

More details about the plant were announced by Tarek Selim Kadada, co-director of Gaia Equity Ltd, ”The cost of building the plant is US$330m, slightly more than 200 billion CFA francs. The unit will have a production capacity of 5000tpd, or 1.5Mta. This is an investment by Ireland, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and China.The project will directly employ 450 people and indirectly 700 people.”

The new plant, which is to be built by Sinoma, is expected to come online in three years’ time. At present the country imports around 3Mta of cement annually.