BUA Cement Plc has announced the signing of a new agreement with its partner, CBMI to begin the building of another cement line in Sokoto, a move that is aimed at boosting the company’s annual cement production capacity to 20 million metric tonnes.
Managing director/chief executive, BUA Cement, Yusuf Binji made the disclosure at the 12th anniversary of BUA Group and CNBM business partnership tagged “Together, for a Shared Future”.
According to Binji, BUA Cement has grown from a 2 percent market share to over 30 percent within the last eight years. “Our capacity has increased from half a million tons to over 17 million tons. I’m pleased to announce that we recently signed an agreement to build another cement line in Sokoto, which will take our installed capacity to 20 million tons,” he told the audience at Transcorp Hotel who thronged the place for the celebration of the 12 years of business partnership.
Edo Cement Company and the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, Sokoto, merged to form Gua Cement in 2019. It was listed on the Stock Exchange in January 2020 and is now the fifth-highest capitalised company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Binji said BUA has built a strong brand, producing two cement brands: BUA Cement and Sokoto cement. “Our cement product is widely recognized as the best in Nigeria, and we hope to receive endorsement from engineers present here today.”
He said both BUA and CBMI have executed several projects and continue the partnership, extending into operation and maintenance and mining. “Our aspiration is to be the number one cement producer in Nigeria, making cement affordable and available nationwide.”
Also, chairman of BUA Group, AbdulSamad Rabiu, expressed gratitude to CBMI for their support, friendship, and commitment to partnership, adding that the relationship was built on mutual trust, collaboration, and efficiency.
He said, “In 2008, the then-President of Nigeria, Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, recognised the need to increase cement production and supply in Nigeria.“At that time, Nigeria was only producing about three to four million tons of cement, which represented only about 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the country’s demand. The rest was being imported.
“To address this challenge, the government decided to invite six companies from the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria to participate in the cement business.”Rabiu said, “Our company, BUA Group, was invited from the northwestern part of Nigeria to participate. Initially, I had no knowledge of the cement business, but I was invited to participate.
Managing director of CBMI, Zhang Sicai said CBMI will always regard BUA Group as its most sincere old friend and the most important strategic customer, keep a close eye on the overall situation, give full play to its own advantages, unite all forces, broaden service areas, innovate service mechanisms, strengthen refined management, improve service levels, adhere to the owner-centred service concept, and spare no effort to provide the strongest support for BUA Group’s leap-forward development with excellent service quality and professional technical strength.
“In the future, we also hope that we can go hand in hand, jointly grasp the pulse of the times, further promote our traditional friendship, deepen pragmatic cooperation, strengthen humanities exchanges, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, jointly expand cooperation advantages, and work together to achieve bigger growth. Also, we will provide new ideas for cooperation on the construction of “One Belt One Road” initiative and open up a new pattern of cooperation for the friendly development of China and Nigeria!” Sicai stated.
Managing director from Sinoma Nigeria Company LTD, Fengtoa Geng said looking ahead, his firm is confident with much expectation for the future of the partnership. “As we continue to explore new opportunities, embrace more top technologies，and expand our horizons. Our partnership is expected to achieve a higher level.
Finally, I sincerely thank our partner BUA Group for their trust and support. Thank you to all our valued customers, stakeholders and the community we serve, and thanks for everyone’ s support and trust in our work as always,” he stated.
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