As part of its corporate social responsibility project, Dangote Cement Cameroon SA has handed over Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits worth 100 million CFA francs (about N64.50 million) to the country’s Ministry of Public Health to support healthcare workers on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19.
The Republic of Cameroon has been waging a war against the coronavirus for several weeks and several corporate organisations are making their contributions to this fight which requires a lot of resources.
Dangote Cement Cameroon SA is a subsidiary of the indigenous cement giant, Dangote Cement Plc.
Speaking at the handover of the materials, Country Manager, Dangote Cement Cameroon SA, Abdullahi Baba, said, “These are important products for medical personnel. Dangote Cement is a corporate responsible company. Our concern here is the health of citizens.” He hailed the bravery of the health workers since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, saying that they are the main focus of the cement company.
Support materials handed over to the the Ministry of Public Health include; 15,000 masks, 10,000 shoe covers, 3,260 litres of chlorinated water, 120 thermo-flashes, 90 thousand gloves, 100 sprayers, and 1,440 packages of food supplements.
The donation which is intended to protect healthcare personnel on the front line, was received by Alim Hayatou, the Secretary of State to the Minister of Public Health, in charge of the fight against epidemics and pandemics.
In his response, Secretary of State Alim Hayatou, representing the Minister of Public Health, Manaouda Malachie, said: “We thank you for this gesture for Cameroon.”
Dangote Cement Plc is Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest cement producer with an installed capacity of 45.6Mta capacity across 10 African countries and operates a fully integrated “quarry-to-customer” business with activities covering manufacturing, sales and distribution of cement.
The Group have a production capacity of 29.3Mta in its home market, Nigeria. It has three cement plants in Nigeria, Obajana plant in Kogi state, with 13.3Mta of capacity across four lines; Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12Mta and Gboko plant in Benue state has 4Mta. Through recent investments, Dangote Cement has eliminated Nigeria’s dependence on imported cement and has transformed the nation into an exporter of cement serving neighboring countries.
In addition, Dangote Cement has operations in Cameroon (1.5Mta clinker grinding), Congo (1.5Mta), Ghana (1.5Mta import), Ethiopia (2.5Mta), Senegal (1.5Mta), Sierra Leone (0.5Mta import), South Africa (2.8Mta), Tanzania (3.0Mta), Zambia (1.5Mta).
Dangote Cement has a long-term credit rating pf AA+ by GCR and Aa2.ng by Moody’s due to its market leading position, significant operational scale and strong financial profile evidenced by the Company’s robust operating and net profit margins relative to regional and global peers, adequate working capital, satisfactory cashflow and low leverage.
Dangote Cement is a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, a diversified and fully integrated conglomerate as well as a leading brand across Africa in businesses such as cement, sugar, salt, pasta, beverages, and real estate, with new multi-billion dollar projects underway in the oil and gas, petrochemical, fertilizer and agricultural sectors.
