Dangote cement plans London listing

Nigerian cement manufacturer Dangote Cement has announced plans to list 20% of its shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) next year.

In addition to the London listing, 5% of Dangote Cement's stock is traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. By having 25% of its shares available as free float, the company hopes to secure a Premium Listing on the LSE. This will require Dangote to meet the UK's highest standards of regulation and corporate governance, but in return for this greater transparency it may enjoy lower costs of capital.

The company is thought to be the biggest cement producer in Africa, with a capacity of 19 million tonnes per year, rising to 20 million tonnes this summer. Its assets include the Obajana plant in Nigeria, which at 5.2 million tonnes per year, is the largest cement plant in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2010 Dangote Cement had revenues of NGN 203 billion (US$ 1.28 billion). Its latest financial results for the first nine months of 2011 show revenues up +18.6% to NGN 174 billion (US$ 1.1 billion), with 6.36 million tonnes of cement sold. It claims a 70% share in the Nigerian cement market.

Dangote Cement says it has plans to add 11.1 million tonnes to its cement manufacturing capacity, and plans to make Nigeria a net exporter of cement.

The company plans to build cement plants in Cameroon, Congo, Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia, with one currently under construction in Senegal. It also has terminals in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Dangote Cement is part of the wider Dangote Group, which has interests in food commodities, steel, oil & gas and real estate, among other industries. The group is controlled by Aliko Dangote, one of Africa's richest men, with an estimated net worth of US$ 11.2 billion.