The Dangote Group’s $160 million investment in a cement plant in Attingué, Côte d’Ivoire, marks a major milestone in its regional expansion. The 50-hectare facility, with a 3 million-tonne annual capacity, is one of Dangote’s largest plants outside Nigeria. With over 52 million tonnes of production capacity across 10 countries, this move underscores Africa’s growing capacity for self-driven infrastructure development and economic growth.
The Attingué plant’s 3 million-tonne annual output will directly fuel Côte d’Ivoire’s infrastructure, providing critical materials for housing and roads. Beyond production, it will create over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs and empower local SMEs through new supply and logistics opportunities. Furthermore, the Dangote Academy will cultivate local expertise by training Ivorian engineers, reducing the long-standing reliance on foreign technical labour.
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This expansion is a microcosm of a broader corporate philosophy. As Managing Director Serge Gbotta stated, the plant is “a symbol of confidence in Côte d’Ivoire’s future,” reflecting an ethos of investing in African capability rather than merely extracting its resources. By establishing local production in countries like Ethiopia, Senegal, and now Côte d’Ivoire, Dangote Cement has consistently reduced import dependence, stabilised local markets, and spurred job creation.
This model of regional integration through domestic production is perfectly timed with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), positioning Dangote’s industrial clusters to build crucial cross-border value chains. The company’s use of locally sourced materials and sustainable practices offers a blueprint for other sectors like steel and fertilisers to emulate.
This continental strategy is generating significant value. The company’s performance is a key driver for its majority owner, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person. Recently, a 9.5% surge in Dangote Cement’s share price alone added $497 million to his net worth in a single week. So far in 2025, his fortune has grown by $1.5 billion, buoyed by a bullish Nigerian Exchange where Dangote Cement remains the most valuable company, Dangote Cement (+20.3%), Dangote Sugar Refinery (+88%), and NASCON Allied Industries (+219%). Bloomberg now values the Dangote Group empire at over $27 billion in combined industrial assets, including his $18.6 billion oil refinery and $3 billion fertiliser complex.
This financial success underscores the profound market confidence in Africa’s industrial and infrastructure growth. The Attingué plant challenges the old paradigm of import dependence, ensuring African infrastructure is built with African resources. It signals a philosophical shift from aid-driven development to production-led growth, rewriting the script of African enterprise.
In the grand narrative, the Attingué facility is more than a factory; it is a monument to Africa’s ambition. As Aliko Dangote has asserted, the mission is to tell a new story of “innovation, production, and progress.” Through strategic investments like this, Dangote is not just manufacturing cement—it is helping to build a self-sustaining industrial ecosystem, propelling the continent into a new era of economic independence and global prominence.
