BUA Cement Secures $500m From IFC To Boost Competition With Dangote

BUA Cement has secured $500m loan from the International Finance Corporation to compete with arch rival Dangote Cement.

The loan was secured through the IFC as lead arranger alongside other lenders including the African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), and Deutsche Investitions – ndEntwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG).

BUA disclosed in a regulatory filing that the debt would help finance the ongoing expansion of its integrated cement plants in Kalambaina, Sokoto State, Nigeria.

BUA said injecting the $500m in the plant would raise its capacity to 8 million tonnes per annum.

The cement maker said it “has achieved financial close in connection with the financing to be provided by a syndicate of lending development finance institutions, led by International Finance Corporation (IFC), with participation from African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), and Deutsche Investitions – undEntwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG).

“BUA Cement intends to utilize this facility to finance the ongoing expansion of its integrated cement plants in Kalambaina, Sokoto State, Nigeria. The expansion will increase the plant’s capacity to 8.0 MTPA and as well as facilitate the development of other ancillary utilities.”

BUA is currently the second-highest cement maker in Nigeria with an installed capacity of 11.5 million tonnes per annum while Dangote has 1.6 million tonnes per annum production capacity across Africa with Nigeria accounting for 35.25Mta.

The total production for BUA Cement is expected to amount to 17 million tonnes per annum by 2023.

In the last 6 years, BUA has completed four plants – two in Obu, Edo State, and two in Sokoto.