Nigerian cement giants are raising money for growth at home and abroad
Lagos — Nigeria’s two largest cement makers are turning to investors to help kick-start growth and take advantage of strengthening sub-Saharan African economies and infrastructure spending, including in their home market. Legislators in Nigeria approved a 2018 budget of 9.1-trillion naira ($25bn) this month, the nation’s biggest spending plan yet, with almost a third of it going into roads, rail, ports and power. In SA, where both Dangote Cement and Lafarge Africa also have operations, fixed investment expanded in the last quarter of 2017 as sentiment started to change in the run-up to President Cyril Ramaphosa winning control of the ANC and becoming national leader in February. Dangote, controlled by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said last month that it was looking to raise $500m from a Eurobond sale and would issue 300-billion naira in local-currency bonds to refinance debt and boost expansion. That is before a proposed London initial public offering in the next two years, ...
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