AFRICA news
Bell Equipment has announced the appointment of Lonagro
Mozambique as its exclusive dealer in Mozambique and Malawi.
Lonagro is a division of Lonrho Group, which holds John Deere
Agriculture dealerships in a number of African countries. According
to group marketing director Stephen Jones, working through
independent dealers allows Bell to provide better coverage and
support to customers in markets with cast areas and low machine
populations. He adds that clear synergies between the companies
mean that a closer relationship with Lonagro would provide benefits
for Bell, Lonagro, and Bell customers. Lonagro MD Reinhardt van Zyl
says the alliance with Bell will allow Lonagro to supply a significant
range of products that will be used in the agriculture, mineral
resource, and infrastructure industries.
The board of Nigerian Stock Exchange-listed (NSE) Lafarge Africa, a
subsidiary of Lafarge Holcim, has approved the company’s merger with
the United Cement Company of Nigeria (Unicem) and Atlas Cement
Company following the approval of the necessary regulatory bodies,
according to the Nigerian Tribune. According to a statement signed
by company secretary Edith Onwuchekwa, the board authorised the
company to “undertake a business combination/merger with United
Cement Company of Nigeria (Unicem ) and Atlas Cement Company
Limited” and to “enter into any agreement and do all that is necessary
to negotiate and implement the merger among UniCem and Atlas”.
Onwuchekwa stressed that Lafarge “will seek the approval of the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and all other relevant
regulatory bodies in furtherance of the implementation of the merger.”
Nova Cimangola has inaugurated a new cement plant at Cacuaco in
Luanda, Angola, with an annual production capacity of 2.4 million
tonnes, according to Global Cement. The USD400-million plant was
built by Chinese Sinoma International Engineering in 21 months, with
investment for the project coming from Nova Cimangola and Ciminvest,
its main shareholder. The new plant occupies an area of 700ha and has
larger mineral reserves than Nova Cimangola’s existing cement plant
at Kikolo near Luanda, which has limited limestone reserves and which
the new unit is intended to replace. The new plant will increase Nova
Cimangola’s annual production capacity from 1.8 million tonnes to 3.6
million tonnes, as well as creating 200 jobs, 85% of which are expected to
go to local workers.
Four international firms — from among nine interested companies —
have reached the preliminary technical evaluation stage of the tender
opened by the Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise (EPSE) to
procure 700 000 tonnes of coal for 23 factories, according to Addis Fortune.
The procurement will cost an estimated USD2.4-million. The bid was
opened on 10 July 2017 at the EPSE premises in the presence of bidders,
as well as the five EPSE committee members assigned to oversee the
tender process. Glencore, HC Trading, Riftcot, and Huyton fulfilled the
requirements to compete in the technical evaluation of the bid to supply
the coal. The majority of the coal, around 600 000, will be imported for
the cement producers at the request of 20 cement factories, with the
remainder going to steel and ceramics producers. The factories will pay
the total finance of the bid. Ethiopia imports more than 750 000 tonnes
of coal each year, over 75% of which is for cement businesses.
Suez Bags, a subsidiary of Suez Cement, has reportedly received two
competing bids, one of which comes from international packaging and
paper firm Mondi, according to Egypt’s Al Borsa newspaper. Suez Bags
is a bag producer for cement, gypsum, and other building materials,
based in Cairo and owned by Germany’s HeidelbergCement. While the
second bidder has not been identified, the newspaper puts the size
of the transaction at around USD22.4-million. The Egyptian Financial
Supervisory Authority has approved due diligence for both bidders, and
the board of Suez Bags has approved Mondi Paper Sales to conduct a due
diligence financial and technical review. While EFG Hermes is reportedly
advising on the transaction, it was not specified on which side.
QUARRY SA | SEPTEMBER 2017 _ 9