Niger's President, Issoufou Mahamadou, inaugurated the new Malbaza Cement Co plant in the Tahoua region of Niger, on 20 March 2019.

Owned by private capital from Niger, the plant currently has a cement capacity of 0.54Mta, but this has the option to be expanded to 0.65Mta at a later date. The construction was financed by a consortium of local banks, the West African Development Bank and promoters who invested XOF66bn (US$114.7m).

Its output will cover Niger’s cement requirements and reduce the country’s reliance on imports. A cement price of XOF90,000-93,000/t is expected.