YAOUNDE May 9 (Reuters) – Morroco’s leading home builder Addoha Group will start construction of a 20 million euro ($25.9 million) cement plant this month in Cameroon’s economic capital Douala, the company said on Wednesday, in one of its first international ventures.
The plant will start up in December and produce some 500,000 tonnes of cement per year, Addoha Group President Anas Sefrioui said over state radio after a meeting with Cameroon President Paul Biya.
He added that Addoha intends to invest in the construction of low cost housing in the central African country “so as to give Cameroonians the opportunity to have comfortable lodgings”. He gave no further details that aspect of the project.
Addoha is Morroco’s top property developer but is seeking to expand its business into West and Central Africa. It said in its most recent earnings statement in March that it is seeking to enter the real estate markets in Ivory Coast and Guinea amid growing demand for housing.
Cameroon currently has only one cement producing company, CIMENCAM, with output of about 1 million tonnes from two plants.
Nigeria’s Dangote Group inked an agreement with Cameroon last year to set up a 1.5 million tonne per year cement factory in Douala, though construction work has been delayed due to a legal dispute over land rights. ($1 = 0.7733 euros) (Reporting by Tansa Musa; Editing by Richard Valdmanis)
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