Ghana To Hold West Africa Investment Conference

VENTURES AFRICA – Ghana is set to hold the first edition of the West Africa Investment Conference in Accra next month. The conference, which will hold between May 8-10, is aimed at promoting the private sector in the sub-region.

Organised by Objective Capital, an international investment company, with special expertise in handling metals and minerals companies; the conference would identify different sources of investment capital, and the potential for their use to create employment, social engagement and economic growth, thereby delivering a long-term positive impact on the region’s economy.

The event also has the sponsorship of Ghanaian-led Corporate Finance Practice, Weston Capital Management, and Ghana Investment Promotion Centre. The conference is expected to introduce genuine investors to invest in projects as well as provide an environment for transacting business. About 100 participants from Canada, Australia, England, US, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and France, are expected to participate in the conference.

According to a statement issued by the organizers, “The conference will offers regional and international investors, financiers and corporate the chance to see first-hand the transformation taking place as well as the opportunity to build personal relationships with the region’s business leaders, policy-makers, local financial service providers and entrepreneurs. With representatives from more than 100 deals of all sizes seeking an aggregate of US$5bn+ in financing already attending you have the opportunity to benefit from the region’s growth.”

West Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the continent. It is rapidly growing in terms of personal wealth, high commodity prices, and economic reform and increasing stability while offering investors tremendous opportunities in everything from financial services to mining, consumer goods, manufacturing and oil & gas.

Speaking about the conference, Objective Capital Managing Director, Ms Ros Lund, said the conference aims to create an annual investment pilgrimage in West Africa, which would attract potential investors, as well as provoke debate that would identify investment opportunities in Ghana and the sub-region.

The conference will also focus on the mining sector and the agricultural sector of the economy. The agricultural sector has 60 per cent of the country’s work-force. “We want to educate Small and Medium Enterprises to find business opportunities and not excuses for not finding enough opportunities,” Ms Lund said.

Furthermore, Mrs Harriette Amissah-Arthur, of Arthur Energy Advisor stressed that the conference is necessary as in the modern world one had to attract investment through convictions. She added that “The notion in the sub-region that we need to be treated with particular consideration should stop. What we need to do as a people is to attract people to invest in our economy, by creating the right kind of atmosphere.” She noted that the conference would consider the demand and supply of power in the sub-region, as well as looking at Ghana’s position in supporting sustainable economic and social development of her neighbors, through her power exportation programme.

Mr Rexford Kontor, Executive Director, Weston Capital Management also said the conference was not going to be a talk shop, rather, it was an event for networking with the region’s policy makers, investors, entrepreneurs and industry leaders. He posits that the event was specifically designed to make a sustainable impact on the region’s socio-economic development, through the show-casing of true investment opportunities across a variety of sectors.

Mr Edward Ashong-Larte, Investment Promotion Director of GIPC, lauded the maiden edition of the conference and said it was in line with the aims and objectives of the centre, which sought to promote investment. He appealed to stakeholders to take the opportunity to participate in the conference aimed at show casing trade investment opportunities in the various sectors.

Speakers expected at the conference include Hon. John Dramani Mahama was sworn into office as the Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Kwabena Duffor, Ghana’s Minister for Finance, Hon. Hanna Tetteh, Ghana Minister for Trade & Industry, and Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei- Ghana’s Minister of Energy.

Other speakers at the event include:
Barbara Manui President, Blue Future
Dr Toni Aubynn CEO, Ghana Chamber of Mines
Patrick AcheampongRisingSun Montessori School
Marindame KombateWest African Investment Manager, LGT Venture Philanthropy…
Sam Brew-ButlerChairman, Cenpower Generation
William Hutton-MensahManaging Director, Electricity Company of Ghana
Kweku Andoh AwotwCEO, Volta River Authority
Jabesh Amissah-ArthurCEO, Bui Power Authority
Boadu AdjeiChief Executive Officer, Oasis Capital
Matthew Boadu AdjeiChief Executive Officer, Oasis Capital
Vanessa AdamsTrade Hub Project Director, US AID – West Africa Trade Hub
Sebastien BoyéInvestment Director, I&P
Nana Owusu-AfariCEO, Afariwaa Group of Companies
Emmanuel BekoeFund Director, German International Corporation, SPEED Funding Facility
Chief Emeka OkengwuManaging Director/Chief Executive Officer, Anthill Concepts

Dangote Cement : Africa’s “Overachiever” Cement Compan

VENTURES AFRICA- The name Dangote Group is no longer new in the business world; especially in Africa. Known for its products such as Cement, Sugar, Salt, Flour, Macaroni, Spaghetti, Noodles, Rice, Dansa Juice, and Mowa Table water, Ziza milk, Petit tomato paste and Danvita ; the group has become one of the largest trading company operating in the Africa.
Founded in May 1981, Dangote Group is one of the largest companies in Africa. In fact, it is the only Nigerian company with such prominent presence across 14 African countries. However, what many fail to realize (apologies to those who know) is that the major source of Dangote company strength is its Cement Company.

Dangote Cement is West Africa’s biggest quoted company with a market capitalization of $10.5 billion. Prominent for its manufacturing, packaging and distributing cement services, Dangote Cement is also the largest quoted company in Nigeria and it accounts for about 30% of the Nigerian Stock Exchange by market capitalization, following its merger with Benue Cement Company Plc in October 2010. This makes it one of the biggest quoted Companies in Africa.

With its popularity and vigor in the Africa cement industry, Dangote Cement as Africa foremost Cement Company with branches spread across the continent; has full operations across the African region especially in Benin, Nigeria and Ghana. Other African countries where Dangote enjoys its prowess are Senegal, Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa, Congo (Brazzaville), Ethiopia, Cameroun.

The company cement plant in Nigeria include Obajana Cement Plc, Kogi; Benue Cement Company, Benue; and Dangote Cement Works Ltd, Ibese – all with a combined capacity of 20 million Mtp across Africa.

As part of its operation, Dangote Cement Plant has six cement terminals in Lagos and Port Harcourt to aid its importation of cement. Its terminals in Nigeria, Lagos Cement Terminal, Port Harcourt Cement Terminal, Onne cement terminal, Aliko Inland cement terminal, Continental Cement terminal all with a combined capacity of 9 million Mtpa. Its other terminals are in Ghana (3.0 million MT per annum), Sierra Leone (0.5 million MTpa), Ivory Coast (1.0 million MTpa) and Liberia 0.5 million MTper annum.
The increased viability of the company’s franchise is in its ownership of the largest sub-Saharan Africa cement plant in Obajana, Kogi State. Dangote took over the management (as core investor under a privatisation programme) of the Benue Cement Company Plc (BCC) in January 2004 while production started in 2005.

Dangote Cement constructed the biggest Greenfield cement processing plant in Africa with the capacity of producing 5,000,000 million metric tonnes per annum at a cost of $1.2 billion. As a result of the unreliable power supply in Nigeria, Dangote Cement fuels its own cement factory by laying a gas pipeline to service a factory and a power plant to service his factory. The plant thereby has the capacity of producing with total existing production and import capacity 14 million tonnes per annum and new production projects in development with 11.1 million tonnes per annum additional capacity.

Its Obajana power-plant has the largest cement plant with a capacity of 5.2 million MTpa with additional capacity of over 5 million MTpa planned. It has a vertical roller mills for energy, efficient grinding of raw material and clinker and a Gas pipeline of approx. 90 kilometer length for the supply of natural gas to cement plant and power plant from Ajaokuta to Obajana (capacity -96,000 cu.m /hr).

To further enlarge its coast as Africa’s biggest cement producer, Dangote in Feburary launched production at its new cement plant (the third cement plant in Nigeria) at Ibese and Sagamu in Ogun State. The factory would be 100 percent dedicated to exporting the Group’s product and would have a combined production capacity of about 8 million metric tonnes per annum.
In packaging its cement product, the company has a cement terminal at Tema, Ghana which is designed to produce one million metric tonnes per annum.

All these accomplishments have been achieved under the tutelage of Aliko Dangote, a graduate of Al-Azahar University who established the company and today serve as the President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group. At 55, he has so many accolades that perhaps, he could hardly remember as a result of his success in the cement industry as well as in other subsidiary businesses. Aliko Dangote over the years is credited with the net worth of $11.2 billion. He has been able to achieve the feat as the richest man in Africa and one of the top black billionaires in the world, according to recent Forbes list. He was also named BusinessWorld Investor of the Year 2010.

At the new cement plant at Ibese in Ogun State, the, Aliko Dangote said, “We envisage that by the time we complete all these projects, we will be in a position to produce about60 million metric tonnes per annum of cement by the end of 2014. This will place us among the top eight cement producing companies in the world.”


By 2015, Dangote intends to expand its annual cement production capacity from 8 million tonnes in 2011 to 48 million tonnes .
This is not to say that the journey has all been rosy. However, despite the hitch along the way has been able to build the company from a product among its par to an achiever product. He has continue through its ventures show that Nigeria is a land of opportunity where hard working entrepreneur has been able to make their mark and achieve success in their area of investment.

According to the Financial Times, the company plans to list the $11 billion cement business on the London Stock Exchange next year. The FT quotes Dangote as saying, “We want to list in London next year. By then the upside to our business will be much bigger than today.”

Farther away from achieving this magnificent feat in the cement industry, the group has recently expressed its interest in infrastructure, mining and petrochemical. Dangote reportedly intends to free-float a 20 percent stake in Dangote Cement to fund its expansion.

He also plans to build a cement plant in Congo soon.

InMobi: Nigeria Continues To Lead In Mobile Advertising In Africa

VENTURES AFRICA –  A recent research has revealed that Nigeria remains Africa’s largest mobile advertising market with over 95million active subscribers. As a result of this development, the Nigeria’s mobile advertising market has recorded a huge growth.
The research was conducted by InMobi, a leading independent mobile advertising network in the world revealed that mobile consumption continues to grow exponentially in Nigeria and indeed, across the African continent.
According to the Vice- President and Managing Director, InMobi Africa, Ms. Isis Nyong’o, this development has made Nigeria Africa’s largest mobile advertising market.

“The stellar increase in impressions from 5.8 billion in the last quarter of 2011 to over eight billion in the first three months of 2012 is a clear proof of the rising popularity of the medium among Nigerian consumers and shows that marketing professionals and brand managers across the country are increasingly embracing mobile media as viable and effective advertising channels,” she said.
She attributed the increase in mobile advertising in Nigeria to the rising importance of technology as a marketing medium in the country. Nigeria records a total number of 37% growth in the first quarter of 2012.

The research also revealed that the growing popularity of Smartphone technology with 42% quarter-on-quarter growth and the approximately 10 per cent of all mobile advertising impressions recorded on the Nigerian InMobi has helped the deep penetration of mobile advertising in Nigeria.

Nyong’o says the latest growth in Nigerian mobile advertising impressions from 2010 to 2011 shows the growth in popularity of mobile advertising as a consumer medium in the country. Nigeria also recorded more than eight billion advertising impressions in the first quarter.  “From a usage perspective, the research confirms that Nigeria, like many other emerging markets, remains highly mobile centric, with the average mobile web user surveyed spending up to 5.5 hours engaged with media every day – up to two hours of which involves their mobile phones.”

In a related development, TNS, a marketing research company conducted a similar research known as Mobile Life Study across 43 countries including Nigeria, on the Nigerian market.

The Chief Executive Officer, Africa and Middle East, TNS, Mr.Kim Macllwaine, says digital marketing especially on the mobile will grow tremendously. He said that many companies in Nigeria are commissioning studies and research with the aim of knowing what Nigerians do on the Internet via their mobile phones and how to leverage that for marketing development.

“There is a huge explosion for digital marketing research and what that leads to is that companies are spending more and more of their marketing budget on digital marketing. There is a very large client of ours that is planning to spend 25 per cent of its marketing budget for 2012 on digital marketing,” Macllwaine said.

The InMobi research also revealed that as a result of mobile usage popularity, many mobile users now use mobile devices extensively for the purposes of communication, entertainment, obtaining information and, even, online shopping. It indicated that 67% of those surveyed cited their mobile phone as their primary or exclusive means of online access while 63% of those surveyed also pointed to mobile technology as the primary influencer of their purchasing behaviour. Ease of use and privacy are cited as the primary two reasons for the preference of using online mobile technology.

In terms of mobile brand preference, Nokia continues to dominate the Nigerian mobile market with 77 per cent of all impressions on the InMobi network. It is followed by Samsung phones with 9% and LG phones with 5% while Blackberry phones only accounted for two per cent of the total mobile advertising impressions on the InMobi network.

Nigeria Collaborates With Nokia To Improve ICT

VENTURES AFRICA – To further improve Information and Communications Technology in the Nigeria, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Communications Technology, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nokia, a world-leading mobile company.
According to the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, the MOU was one of several Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives being undertaken by the Ministry to foster innovation and development of the ICT sector in Nigeria.
The MoU would ensure that the Federal Government of Nigeria and Nokia collaborate in the areas of mobile enabled corporate social investment initiatives and low cost solutions that will benefit Nigerian students, government and consumers.

The agreement also binds both parties to collaborate in terms of providing support for stimulating the growth of the local application developer ecosystem and industry, providing regulatory and policy support for maximising the positive impact of mobile technologies in the country, and enabling the building of environmental awareness and expansion of handset recycling in the country.


According to the Vice-President of Nokia for West Africa and Central Africa, James Rutherfoord, despite the advent of GSM technology in Nigeria, a sizeable proportion of the population were yet to be connected by mobile, a development, which he said, impedes economic growth. To this effect, Nokia will establish a mobile software laboratory in Nigeria with a dedicated growth programme for local developers focusing on technical, design and business skills. This would enable Nigerian developers and entrepreneurs develop the right skill for creating sustainable businesses around mobile software and content development.

The partnership is expected to demonstrate the value of mobile enhanced services for the people of Nigeria and to support growth of indigenous innovation, resulting in solutions and services created by local application developers.

Johnson also revealed that the Federal Government was very much aware of the impact ICTs could have on the development of the nation, hence the government is making to ensure that ICT was deployed as a tool to foster inclusive development and transform Nigeria into a digitalised economy.