- Cement: ‘Backward Integration Saves Nigeria N240bn Annually’
Backward integration in the cement industry is saving the country up to N240bn annually, Lafarge Africa Plc has said.
According to the firm, local manufacture of cement has also seen installed capacity increase from two million to 32 million metric tonnes since backward integration began in the sector in 2002.
The Director of Procurement, Lafarge Africa Plc, Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, was quoted to have said this during a breakout session on backward integration in manufacturing at the ongoing 23rd Nigeria Economic Summit.
Alade-Akinyemi also said that increased local capacity in cement manufacturing had so far attracted $6bn in investments.
He stated, “In addition to increased capacity and investments, the industrial policy of the government has harnessed Nigeria’s huge limestone deposit, saving the country N240bn per year.
“The manufacturing industry is the key to unlocking Nigeria’s economic potential with a multiplier effect on economic activity, which drives tax revenue for the government. The Federal Government realised that cement production is one of the areas, which Nigeria has a comparative advantage and there is no reason why we should not supply cement to countries within Africa.”
According to him, in over a decade, Nigeria has gone from a top 10 cement importer to a net exporter, earning dollars and lessening the strain on foreign exchange.
