FG threatens to allow cement importation, counter high-cost

The Federal Government has hinted that it may be forced to throw the borders open for the importation of cement if Nigerian manufacturers do not lower the price of the commodity in the country.

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, gave the warning on Tuesday in Abuja at an emergency meeting with cement and building materials manufacturers, rejecting the notion of tying production to the dollar exchange rate.

He noted that since the main input for the manufacture of cement including limestone, clay, silica sand, and gypsum are obtainable in the country, they should not be evaluated in dollars.

He therefore told the manufacturers to stop hiding behind Forex to inflict pain on Nigerians and by extension make housing delivery for the Nigerians difficult.

The minister accused cement manufacturers of hiding behind the unstable Foreign exchange to inflict untold hardship on Nigerians particularly those who are engaged in the construction and housing sector especially.

Only recently the prices of 50kg of cement had soared to N13,000 across the country.

Dangiwa described the escalating cement prices as a crisis for housing delivery and the construction industry in Nigeria.

He said the situation was unacceptable and constituted an inimical trajectory for the growth of the country.

He said the federal government cannot accept such illicit price hikes when all materials for cement production are locally sourced.

His words: “The gas supply that constitutes a chunk percentage of cement manufacturers’ production costs is produced in Nigeria, but may not be enough. But some of the manufacturers will just go behind that and take advantage of it.

“We know that some of the key components of producing building materials, especially cement, are locally sourced, so the recurring disproportionate increase in the price of cement is unacceptable and unreasonable.

“Key input materials such as limestone, clay, silica sand, and gypsum within our borders should not be dollar-rated. You cannot continue to give excuses and blame it on dollars all the time.

“The worst part is, other building materials’ manufacturers take a cue from cement manufacturers, and once they see that you increase your price, they do the same as well. Recently, this is happening almost every week, and it has to stop”, the Minister of Housing said.

He directed the Permanent Secretary, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, to get the committee working to quickly come up with recommendations based on the issues raised by manufacturers so that they can be taken to the Federal Executive Council for action.

Lending his voice to the conversation to salvage the situation, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo, called on the manufacturers to make some sacrifices in their operations.

He said that while it would be understandable that there are some challenges in the production of cement, the manufacturers must also know that they have a corporate social responsibility to stand by Nigeria during difficult times and this is one such time.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CMAN), James Salako, said the association does not have control over prices.

“In CMAN, we have a cardinal principle not to discuss price. We must not discuss it because of competition law. We are conscious of it. So when it comes to the issue of pricing, it is individual companies that have their policies,” he said.

Also, the Group Chief Commercial Officer at Dangote Industries, Rabiu Umar, expressed the readiness of the company to work with the government despite the identified challenges.