Nigeria has commissioned a multi-million dollar cement factory that it says will help the country not only to be self reliant in terms of cement production but boost exports as well. The Bua Cement factory is located in Okpella, Edo State.
Speaking during the commissioning of the the first phase of the three million ton-capacity ultra modern cement plant, vice president Prof. Yemi Osinbajo said that the Bua Cement factory will help boost Nigeria’s position as a top cement producer in Africa.
Osinbajo said that the plant will provide thousands of direct jobs and indirect jobs, both for skilled and unskilled workers.
“At the level of production obtain it also means the consolidation of the Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in cement and a big boost to our export capacity,” he said.
The vice president added that the firm behind the project,BUA group, used the most modern and efficient gas turbine which combines low and economically value cost with a very high degree of reliability.
Prof Osinbajo assured the private sector that the federal government would endeavour to make policies that would remove bottle necks but “will identify inhibitions and eliminate them.
In a move that will significantly increase cement production in Nigeria, Abdulsamad Rabiu, chief executive officer of the BUA group,disclosed that the firm has started the construction of another cement plant in Sokoto with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tons at a cost of over $300 million which would be commissioned in 2018.