Hopes of Dangote’s Sh35b cement plant dashed as investor vanishes
Possibility of establishing a multi-billion shilling cement factory in Kitui County by Dangote Quarries Ltd seems to have gone up with the wind.
This is after the company, owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, stopped limestone prospecting in Kanziku area and vanished.
Dangote Quarries had promised to put up a Sh34.8 billion cement plant in Kanziku with capacity to produce 5,500 tonnes of cement daily to rival a planned one by ARM Cement worth Sh26 billion in Kyuso Sub County.
More than a year after the multinational pulled out of Kitui claiming to have completed phase one of prospecting, neither residents nor the county government have any information on their plans. The community from the limestone rich Kanziku area is now convinced that Dangote Quarries have lost interest in Kitui limestone investment.
“We have lost hope in Dangote. He is no longer in our minds. He is a wealthy man but his wealth is not benefiting us at all,” said a disappointed Francis Munyalo, capturing the mood of the residents.
Mr Munyalo, a member of Ene Mali (wealth owners), a group of farmers whose land sits on massive deposits of limestone, said the community was now open to other investors. Chrispus Mutinda, another resident said they were shocked by the sudden change of heart by Dangote, saying with such a huge investment, the entire community would have been pulled out of poverty.
“They just left us high and dry. We are totally in the dark about their plans,” said Mutinda, referring to the investor’s unexplained withdrawal in March 2015. Kitui County Chief Officer in charge of Environment, Energy and Minerals Investment Development Dr Muusya Mwinzi noted that the county government was also in the dark over Dangote plans.
“As far as I know, they have not communicated with us for a long time so we don’t know their plans. The last we heard from them is sometime last year when they claimed they were retreating to reorganise themselves financially,” Dr Mwinzi revealed.
The chief officer said they were not aware if Dangote Quarries handed over its prospecting report to the ministry of Mining and Geology and what its findings were. “We are still trying to follow up on that although sometimes the ministry is reluctant to share information with us,” he said.
Dr Mwinzi stated that even when Dangote Quarries was on the ground, it had no physical address and its operations were ‘very opaque’ adding that it seemed to be a ‘faceless’ entity that engaged middlemen who would give scanty and unreliable details.
We tried to contact John Nzuki who in the past acted as the link between the community and Dangote Quarries but his phone was off.
However, in an interview with this writer a month ago, Nzuki sounded non-committal on the possibility of the firm’s return to Kitui County, even suggesting that the community was at liberty to engage other investors.
“You know this wealth (limestone) is like our daughter. Any man who offers the best deal will get her,” he said.
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unaleta stale news humu bro? habari moto moto za wiki iliopita, dangote ameshamtuma kaka yake malindi county, pwani ya kenya.
Dangote shakes local cement plants, seeks Coast limestone
Nov. 29, 2016, 3:00 am
By ALPHONCE GARI @alphonce2011
Mining Cabinet Secretary Dan Kazungu address residents of Ganda during tour of Malindi Salagate road on August 30.Photo Alphonce Gari
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Nigerian multinational Dangote Group has expressed interest in prospecting for limestone in Malindi, hoping to make inroads in the country’s cement market.
Mining Cabinet Secretary Dan Kazungu said the multibillion-dollars mining company intends to explore limestone deposits in Kwachocha, Kijiwetanga Kizingo, Mbaraka Chembe
and Mayungu.
Accompanied by Malindi MP Willy Mtengo at the National Government Constituencies Development Fund offices on Thursday, Kazungu told journalists his ministry is processing
a licence to pave the way for the exploration works.
He said the company is ready to send its engineers to begin prospecting for sedimentary rock, one of the two key components required to make cement.
“If they find enough deposits, they could put up the largest cement factory in Kenya,” Kazungu said.
The CS said Malindi has for a long time depended on tourism, whose proceeds have dwindled, and industrial projects will boost the region’s economy and create jobs for youths.
Kazungu said his ministry will set up a regional mining office in Malindi town to serve Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu counties.
Dangote’s entry into Kenya has this year created price wars in the market with low-cost cement imports from its plant in Ethiopia.
The company is importing cement in a short-term market entry plan as it prepares to establish a local plant by 2019.
The firm says cement imports in Kenya are priced at about $74 (Sh7,540 ) per tonne (current exchange rate), which makes the commodity cheaper by up to 40 per cent, compared to locally manufactured brands.
Leading cement firms likely to bear the brunt of Dangote’s entry into Kenya is LafargeHolcim, its flagship brand being Bamburi cement. Meanwhile, CS Kazungu said the ministry is gearing up for the planned aerial geophysical survey on the country’s mineral deposits.
National Treasury CS Henry Rotich allocated Sh3 billion for the first phase of the survey in the 2016-17 financial year.
The survey, Kazungu said, will help identify minerals and their locations across the country.
The country has five mineral blocks in Coast, Eastern, Rift, Western and Northern regions.
Phase one of the survey will cover the Western, Coast and Eastern blocks.
Other cement manufacturing plants in Kenya include East Africa Portland Cement and Athi River Mining.
source star.co.ke