Share!
Amid continued closure of Nigeria’s land borders, the Federal Government has granted Dangote Cement exclusive access to resume export of its product across the country.
According to Bloomberg, Michel Puchercos, chief executive officer, said on an investor call in Lagos that President Muhammadu Buhari‘s administration gave the authorization for Africa’s biggest producer to export cement to Niger and Togo in the third quarter for the first time in ten months.
The export was made possible “through authorization given by this administration,” said Pucheros.
The government had in August 2019 shut the land borders to check smuggling of arms into the country and boost local production.
In September 2020, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had assured that the federal government would reopen the country’s land borders within a short period.
Bloomberg noted that the exemption granted to Dangote Cement could be a softening of the government’s position on a border closure and possibly open the way for other businesses to fully resume exports across the country’s land barriers.