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Dangote Group plans rail system to connect factories

By on October 5, 2011

Dangote Group has said it will soon construct rail lines to connect all its cement factories to the national rail system to reduce cost of transporting its products.

Managing Director of Dangote Cement Terminal in Lagos, Mr Akin Adesokan, stated this while conducting distributors around Dangote Cement Factory in Ibese in Ogun.

He said the rail lines are necessary because the cost of transporting bulk cement was still a challenge.

Adesokan said Dangote would also establish freight systems to boost export of its products to countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

He explained that, the move will forge strong bilateral trade relations within the ECOWAS countries, adding that the freight system would reduce the cost of haulage and in turn, the prices of the products.

“The challenge is taking our goods from the factory to the ports since there is no railway system it makes transportation of bulky goods burdensome,” he said.

Adesokan said the Dangote Group has invested heavily on haulage with the purchase of over 2000 trucks to distribute cement to the various depots in the country.

“This is our own corporate social responsibility initiative and no other company has done this.

“The price will definitely come down because the chairman of Dangote Group has the interest of Nigerians at heart and wants to bring down the price of cement to the barest minimum so that everybody can afford it.

“The factory in Ibese has the capacity to produce six million tonnes of cement per annum and will make cement available in every part of the South West region.

“Before, we cannot take cement from Obajana down to the South West, but with this factory, it will be a thing of the past.

“From Ibese, we can take cement to Ibadan, Oyo, Ogun and all other parts of the South West region,” he said.

Adesokan said that he brought cement distributors to the factory because he wanted them to see the extent of readiness of the factory.

He pointed out that the total demand for cement in the country was currently about 17 million metric tonnes annually, but envisaged that the demand would increase this year.

Adesokan said that the Ibese factory would be completed in October while the first batch of production would follow immediately.

Nation