Dangote Cement Plc has announced the commencement of the construction of a 3 mmtpa capacity cement grinding plant in Cote d’Ivoire.
The new project is coming just as the company announced the groundbreaking of a new 6mmtpa Greenfield cement plant in Okpella, Edo State and commencement of works on a 6mmtpa capacity plant in Itori, Ogun State.
Dangote Group Executive Director, Strategy, Projects and Portfolio Management, Devakumar Edwin, said the Cote d’Ivoire project would cost the company $200million and would be completed in 18 months.
The project is located on over 60 hectares of land, next to the New Industrial Park in Yongbon, just outside Abidjan.
The grinding plant, made up of two lines of 1.5 million metric tonnes capacity each, when completed, will more than double the total capacity of local cement production.
The plant when completed will utilise power off the grid and provide direct and indirect jobs for over 3,000 people from within Cote d’Ivoire and other West African countries.
Edwin said that upon completion, Nigerian experts would carry out initial training of local manpower.
The project is being undertaken by Ayoki Fabricon, a mechanical and civil engineering company based in Pune, India. Thyssen Krupp, a German steel firm is also a sub-contractor.
Ayoki has undertaken fabrication, erection and commissioning services of plants for clients which include Jaypee Group, Ambuja Cements, Aditya Birla Group, Lafarge, JK cement Group.
