Africa’s richest man in Zimbabwe

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote from Nigeria, met with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and said he will begin constructing a cement factory in the country early next year.

Dangote, who met with Mugabe on Monday, said he already used Zimbabwe’s coal for his cement factory in Ndola, Zambia, and now he would expand his operation to fire up the new cement factory in Zimbabwe.

Dangote met government ministers and Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“We are in the country to scout for investment opportunities and invest like we have been doing in all the other African countries,” he told the state media.

“We want to set up an integrated cement plant here that will be bigger than all the plants that we have. We look at setting up something that can translate into a million and half tonnes so that even when we continue to use cement, there won’t be a shortage of cement here. We will make cement available.”

Dangote said the timing of the start of construction depended on Zimbabwe providing all the necessary paper work, but he hoped construction would begin in the first quarter of next year.

(Photo: @AlikoDangote, Twitter)