Developers, consumers beg Dangote for N1, 000 cement

Dangote

Builders and other consumers are groaning over the high price of cement weeks after the Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, announced a 41 per cent reduction in the price of the product.

The consumers said the reduction had not taken effect many weeks after the company made the pronouncement.

According to them, they are still buying cement for between N1, 850 and N1.950 per bag.

They therefore urged the company to effect the reduction of price to enable them to have access to the product.

President, Nigeria Institute of Building, Mr. Tunde Lasabi, said though the price was reacting to market forces, he urged the foremost cement manufacturer to stand by its earlier determination to sell the product at affordable price.

Lasabi, who described the owner of Dangote Cement Company, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, as an investor, urged him to create a platform that would stabilise the price so that consumers could afford the product.

He said, “Immediately after the reduction was announced in November last year, the price reduced to N1, 350, but jumped to N1.750 the following day. Nigeria’s housing need is huge and the stability in the price of cement will help achieve the objective of making housing affordable to the masses.”

President, Building Collapse Prevention Guild, Mr. Kunle Awobodu, recalled that members of the association were excited that the new era of affordable construction material had emerged when the management of Dangote Cement recently announced reduction in the price of cement.

Awobodu added that many potential home owners and developers celebrated the proposal, hoping that the development would facilitate their access to affordable houses, but were disappointed that the reduction had yet to take effect weeks after its announcement.

He, however, urged the company and other cement manufacturers in the country to review the cost of producing the product so that it would be affordable to builders.

Awobodu said though some distributors blamed the high price of cement on falling oil prices and devaluation of the naira, manufacturers should still try to ensure the reduction in the prices of cement.

He argued that the price of cement could be reduced since majority of its raw materials are found locally.

He said, “Apart from boosting the capacity of potential home owners, the reduction of cement price would enhance effective execution of construction or building projects.”

A former President of Nigeria Institution of Structural Engineers, Mr. Oyenuga Victor, urged Dangote and other stakeholders in the business to ensure transparency in the distribution of the product.

Victor, who claimed that he recently bought a bag of cement for N1,950 at Ilishan in Ogun State, said it was painful that majority of Nigerians could not access affordable homes because of the high cost of cement.

He, however, called on the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olugbenga Aganga, to collaborate with cement manufacturers to ensure that cement is affordable to a larger number of people.

However, a senior official of the Dangote Group, who did not want his name mentioned, told Saturday PUNCH that rise in the cost of production of cement was responsible for its high cost in the market.

The official identified naira devaluation and unstable power supply as major challenges confronting the company.