Dangote Cement: Cameroon cement plant to begin production by August
By Kusoro Jeremiah with agency reports
Dangote Cement Cameroon S.A. will become operational in August, the management of the company has said.
The cement factory according to the company will begin production with capacity for one million metric tonnes, which will be expanded to 1.5 million MT in the next two years, and will be producing only the 42.5 grade of cement.
The management said no load trials began in April and that production of raw materials and load trails would begin in August.
The General Manager, Dangote Cement Cameroon S.A., Mr. Abdulahhi Baba, said the design and engineering of the plant was at 99.98 per cent completion, while the procurement, construction, overall status and precast piling were at 95, 70, 84 and 100 per cent, respectively.
“Dangote Cement Cameroon SA is a cement grinding company; we import clinkers to produce cement and we are producing the 42.5 grade like our other plants in other parts of the world. Most builders in the rural areas do not have engineers and other professionals, but if they have quality products, they can minimise collapse,” he said. Baba said the company was first registered as Dangote Industries Cameroon Limited in 2008 but the name changed to Dangote Cement Cameroon S.A. in 2012 with an investment agreement signed with the government of Cameroon in September 2011.
“The effective date of the contract with Sinoma, which is the major contractor for the construction of the plant, was in March 2012. Site handover to Sinoma was, however, on June 4, 2012. This was due to the revocation of the land allocation by the Douala Urban Council from February 28 to May 28, 2012,” he added.
He also said that the plant, which has already gulped about $140m, would also have a 200-metre long jetty to serve as a berth for the clinkers. The general manager said echo
hopers would also be deployed for the discharge of the clinkers. “The plant will have a clinker silo of 30,000 metric tonnes and two cement silos, which can store up to 14,000 tonnes of cement,” he said. Baba added that the first shipment of clinkers would begin in July, while actual production would begin in August.
Summarising the project, he said the grinding unit’s design capacity was one million tonnes but upgradable to 1.5 million MT, with a jetty of 270 long quays, two echo hoppers and
transport conveyors from ship side to shore.
Other details of the plant include three packing machines, one big bag loading facility and power supply from the national grid.
“The plant was planned based on the government of Cameroon’s interest in diversifying the cement market to create a healthy competition,” he said.
Baba added that the construction of plant initially suffered hitches when the host community expressed concern over the anticipated level of pollution.
“They said they already had one in the community and another plant would give a higher level of pollution, but we were able to convince them that our plants emit little or no pollution with the modern technology that we have. Construction eventually started in 2012,” he explained.
According to Baba, the plant currently has 300 people in direct employment, while thousands of others are indirectly employed.
