Dangote Industries Limited has acquired 64 per cent stake in Sephaku Cement Limited, a firm based in South Africa.
By the acquisition, totalling R779m, Dangote has become the largest foreign investor by an African company in South Africa.
A statement from Dangote Industries on Thursday, noted that the group formally increased its stake in Sephaku from 19.76 per cent to 64 per cent.
The deal, which was formally announced to the media on Thursday, came a few days after Dangote Industries successfully listed one of its subsidiaries, Dangote Cement Plc, on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
The statement quoted the President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, as saying that the transaction was done at a crucial moment in the history of cement’s demand and supply.
Dangote, who is the new Chairman of Sephaku Cement, said, ”We are immensely excited about the future prospects of this transaction and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with Sephaku Cement.
This investment is an important milestone for Sephaku, for the Dangote Group of Companies and for South Africa, as the first clinker producing project since 1934.”
According to Dangote, the pace of development at Sephaku will increase in view of the project completion timeline set for 2012.
He was also quoted as saying that the Dangote Group would bring its full experience and resources to the project, having completed other large-scale cement projects in Nigeria and with similar projects currently underway in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Senegal and Zambia.
He said, “We are strong believers in the future growth of the South African economy and of continued growth across the whole of Africa. The level of our investment here and in other markets is a testament to that.
“We have embarked on an investment programme that will create modern cement plants in strategic locations, as we seek to leverage both the local production deficit and increasing infrastructure investment.”
According to the statement, Dangote said that the group was looking outside Nigeria for growth opportunities, pointing out that the long-term ambition of the group was to develop 46 million tonnes of production and terminal capacity in Africa by 2015.
While stating that these were ambitious targets, he said they were achievable, as Africa remained the only continent in the world with a significant cement production deficit, lower cement consumption and the highest cement prices.
Source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010290501959
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