Former President Obasanjo alleges Lafarge hindered Dangote — Premium Times Nigeria

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said in Nairobi that the French cement company Lafarge allegedly created obstacles to businessman Aliko Dangote’s expansion of cement production in Africa. This was reported by Premium Times Nigeria.

Dispute in Senegal

According to Obasanjo, after the completion of construction of a cement plant with a capacity of 5 million tonnes in Senegal, local residents challenged the ownership of the land plot where the facility is located. The former president claims that these people were allegedly instigated by Lafarge.

Obasanjo said that Dangote won the court case. However, he claims that the businessman had to pay $12 million for the plant to begin operations two years after construction was completed. The former president described the dispute as part of efforts to prevent Dangote from competing with Lafarge in the African cement market.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Cement production policy

Obasanjo also mentioned events in 2003, when Nigeria continued to import cement. According to him, Dangote explained at the time that imports were more profitable than local production. After that, the former president claims, the country introduced a policy linking cement import licences to plans for its domestic production.

Obasanjo noted that Dangote Group initially submitted a plan to build a plant with a capacity of 5 million tonnes and subsequently developed cement projects in Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Senegal. He also linked Dangote’s experience in the cement industry to the businessman’s decision to implement an oil refinery project.

According to the publication, Obasanjo made the statement in Nairobi during the groundbreaking ceremony for a $16 billion oil refinery project in Lamu, Kenya. The meeting with Kenyan and other East African institutional investors took place as part of events related to the initial public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.