Falling Prices
The additional production from Dangote’s new factories is already having an effect on local cement markets. In Senegal, the company says it provides more than 30 percent of all cement sold in the country, where it opened its first plant in January.
In Zambia, cement prices have fallen about 20 percent, a result of Dangote’s push against LafargeHolcim, according to Sipho Phiri, who chairs a company planning to build a $180 million hydro power project in the west of the country.
The project will need about 20,000 metric tons of the material so the price drop makes a significant reduction to his capital investment, he said by phone. And none of it will come from Lafarge Zambia Plc.
“They were taking advantage of their monopoly,” said Phiri. “People including myself, as a matter of principle, will only buy Dangote cement. I’m emotional about it.”
Lafarge Zambia Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Rigaux rejected Phiri’s claims that the company had taken advantage of its position.