Ethiopia: Dangote to establish production line for cement bags

Aliko Dangote has used his meeting with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia to outline his conglomerate’s plans to increase investment in the country, the Ethiopian Herald reports.

In a press conference following the meeting, Dangote told reporters that he planned to manufacture cement bags in Ethiopia. The bags currently used by the Dangote Cement operations in the country had to be imported, costing the firm millions of dollars.

"We are also opening a very big factory to produce cement bags. We used to import all bags from abroad in millions. But right now we are going to establish the factory and actually to be ready in the next few months this year," Dangote said.

He also dismissed the idea that the protests which damaged the company’s 2.5Mta cement plant in Oromiya had deterred further investment, stating that “this sort of thing does not really rattle us”.

Dangote is also considering investing in Ethiopia's sugar industry.