Dangote gets firm grip on Ghana’s cement industry
Dangote Cement Ghana is focused on maintaining its grip of the market shares by the continuous provision of quality service in the sale and distribution of cement at all the corners of the country, Mr Etornam Buami, Media Relations Manager has said.
He said within six years of their operations in Ghana, Dangote cement had over 2,000 workforce on their payroll and had changed the face of cement business in Ghana.
Mr Buami who was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on their performance in Ghana said the employee figure did not include the 2,400 drivers’ mates that assisted their drivers on the road and the over 20,000 people who were indirectly benefiting from their operations in Ghana.
He said apart from being the largest employer in the cement industry, the introduction of Dangote cement into the Ghanaian market six years ago also stabilised prices of the commodity on account of the competitive prices they provided to the Ghanaian consumer.
The Media Relations Manager said their customers patronised their products based on quality, competitive prices, reliability of delivery and customer service, attributes that they would continue to push ahead to gain more foothold in Ghana and the international market.
On their expansion programme, he said the allocation of over $100million in the establishment of a new grinding plant in Takoradi was one the projects expected to be completed by the end of 2017 to create more jobs for Ghanaians.
This project, he noted would be ready for take-off in few days.
Mr Buami said apart from supplying and transporting bulk cement which required specially required silos, they were also adding value to their products by bagging cement for distribution to market with environmental control measures to avoid fugitive emissions.
He said as the highest-grade cement producer in the country, Dangote Cement would continue to offer competitive price, expand to meet growing demand, employ more people and operate within the laws of Ghana and support economic growth.
The Media Relations Manager said the economic trend had compelled them to recently step up their prices, ‘just like other cement producing companies have done, to offset many operational costs.’ In spite of this review, our high-grade cement still sells at competitive price in the country.’
He noted that the operations of Dangote Cement were well rooted and that they were here to stay and dispelled rumours that they would be closing down their operations anytime soon.
“We have so far invested over $150 million in our operations and ready to do another $100 million for a new plant. This rather demonstrates our growing investment in the country”, he concluded.
Dangote Cement Ghana Limited started operations in Ghana on February 10, 2010, as a cement bagging plant importing bulk cement from outside Economic Community of West African States.
Dangote cement has recently purchased 1,000 new trucks at $82 million to help in the free delivery of their products to customers throughout the country.
Source: GNA