Nigerian multi-millionaire tycoon Abdulsamad Rabiu is reportedly constructing a $500 million ultra-modern cement plant in Edo State in the south of Nigeria.
The cement plant, which will have a three million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity, is near completion and is expected to be commissioned early next year. Abdulsamad Rabiu disclosed this much last week in London during the signing of a $35 million contract agreement between his company, BUA Group and Siemens for the construction of a gas turbine power plant for the new BUA Group Edo Cement factory. Siemens is expected to supply three SGT 500 turbines with a total capacity of 450 megawatts to supply power to the cement plant.
With this new cement production facility, Abdulsamad Rabiu will compete with Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, for a share of Nigeria’s lucrative cement market.
Rabiu, who is worth $675 million by FORBES’ latest estimates, is easily Aliko Dangote’s fiercest and most formidable competition in Nigeria. Rabiu’s conglomerate, the BUA Group, has substantial interests in the key sectors Dangote is heavily vested in- cement, flour and sugar production. Dangote has always held the upper hand in all these sectors, but BUA Group has been a worthy challenger. With BUA’s new facility, Dangote’s monopolistic dominance in the very lucrative cement sector might be endangered, but only a little bit. BUA’s 3 million-mtpa facility is only a tiny fraction of Dangote’s cement production assets in Nigeria,which have a combined capacity of 20 million mtpa.
Rabiu learned the ropes of trade from his legendary father, Khalifa Isiyaku Rabiu, one of the most successful businessmen of the 70s. By the early 80s, the young Rabiu was already importing commodities like sugar, rice and cement. He built a conglomerate from importing these items to manufacturing them. Today, his BUA Group has interests in cement, sugar and flour production. The Group also owns BUA Cement I, Nigeria’s first floating terminal. - Mfonobong Nsehe Contributor
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