The President of Dangote Group of Companies, Aliko Dangote, has given an insight into why his company embarked on the production of the new 42.5 grade of cement in the country.
Dangote said the move was born out of the quest to save the nation from the national embarrassment of mounting incidences of building collapse, with the attendant loss of lives and investments in buildings, which run into billions of naira annually.
According to him, the investment in the grade of cement will enable Nigerians to have access to world-class cement, which will ensure the durability of the houses that the product is used to build.
He said these on Wednesday in Kano during a forum organised for distributors and other dealers in the company’s cement products.
Dangote made this clarification while responding to comments on the new product, explaining that before his latest move to invest in the new grade, companies manufacturing cement in the country were only involved in the production of 32.5 grade despite the fact that they had the capacity to step up to the production of the 42.5 grade.
He added that the decision by most of the cement manufacturing companies to limit themselves to the production of the 32.5 grade was because of the government’s policy, which allowed for the importation of the commodity.
Dangote said, “What Nigerians need to know about our involvement in the manufacturing of our latest grade of cement is that it is driven out of our patriotic duty to save Nigeria from the national embarrassment associated with collapsed buildings in the country. – Punch.
