All trucks owned by Dangote Cement Plc are billed to run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by 2025.
This, according to the company, is in line with the Federal Government agenda on adoption of alternative fuel for official vehicles.
The company’s Chairman, Aliko Dangote told shareholders at the 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Dangote Cement Plc, held in Lagos that it will reduce dependence on fossil fuel, thereby enhancing the nation’s energy independence and contributing to a more secure energy future.
According to him: “We are now going to start using CNG vehicles, especially with the new policy of the Federal Government, launched by the Renewed Hope Agenda by President Bola Tinubu. By the end of next year, all our trucks that are operating in the company will be running on CNG, and that is a whole lot of money that we are going to invest. But we are equal to the task, and we will continue to push and make sure that we continue to make our shareholders happy.”
The Chairman disclosed to the shareholders the company’s ongoing efforts at ramping up production with the ongoing construction of a new plant of 6 million metric tonnes per annum at Itori, in Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State, noting that despite the hiccups at the Apapa Port in Lagos, the plant would be completed on time.
Dangote said the company’s impressive performance was in fulfillment of the promise he made of an enhanced Return on Investments (RoI) to the shareholders and other stakeholders in Dangote Cement, assuring them that the following year would even be better.
He expressed satisfaction that Dangote Cement achieved double-digit growth in revenue of N2,208.1 billion, while Group EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) reached a record high of N886.1 billion, increasing by 25.1%.
“This outstanding EBITDA performance was underpinned by our robust cost control measures and our diverse pan-Africa operations. The latter acted as a cushion, providing resilience to country-specific risks, while the former enhanced our overall profitability. Our pan-Africa operations now contribute 41.2% to the Group’s overall volumes,” he added.
Dangote pointed out,” We made significant strides in our expansion initiatives, with the successful launch of operations at our 0.45Mta grinding plant in Ghana, increasing our total installed capacity to 52.0Mta. Furthermore, our 1.5Mta grinding plant in Côte d’Ivoire is nearing completion.
“Lastly, we have commenced construction on our 6Mta Itori plant in Ogun State, a crucial step in supporting our ambitious export goals.”
The 2023 results showed that Africa’s largest cement manufacturer recorded improvement in all performance measurement indicators with group revenue rising by 36.4 per cent to N2,208.1 billion while Profit after tax (PAT) was up by 19.2 per cent to N455.6 billion.
