Africa’s Dangote Cement has announced that it has signed a preliminary joint venture (JV) agreement with an undisclosed firm to expand in the South American market
According to the company, South America’s cement industry growth has staggered around six to seven per cent over the last few years with construction markets booming in several countries including Peru and Chile.
Dangote Cement is reportedly Nigeria’s largest cement manufacturer and the largest listed company on the stock exchange with market cap of US$15bn and annual revenue reaching US$1.8bn.
Devakumar Edwin, CEO of Dangote Cement, said, “The countries we’re looking at have huge natural resources and growth.”
Despite the presence of operators like Colombian manufacturer Argos — the largest in the country, Dangote Cement said that it is fairly confident it can carve a niche for itself. ”There are many large players in that region that may easily try to shut out new players, but there’s still scope of doing business,” Edwin added.
Founded by Aliko Dangote, the cement giant recently announced a US$16bn investment plan to drive its global expansion programme.
